Butterfly
by NosrednAD
Summary: Troy is the son of the devil, and his two demonic brothers are on a mission to take over Hell. Can he stop them in time to save his father's life and protect the ones he loves with only the help of a possessed little parakeet? TXG Rated M
1. Welcome to Hell

_If everyone loved, and nobody lied,_

_If every shared, and swallowed their pride,_

_Then we'd see the day, that nobody died._

* * *

Nicholas Perkins sat in the ancient willow tree outside of the Montez household, smoking his pipe eagerly. Next to him he had a pair of binoculars, a phone, a towel, and some popcorn for the wait. Some people would call the act he was performing sick, obsession, or even perverted.

But he called it fun.

He listened to the quiet voices of the young woman and her puny boy-scout brother. She struggled with the keys for a minute and pushed the door open.

He shuffled in anticipation.

She promised him dinner once she changed and headed up the stairs. The girl stepped into the room across from the tree Nicholas was perched in. He licked his lips and pulled on the binoculars. She paused in the middle of the room and looked over to her dresser with large brown eyes, deciding whether or not to pick out her clothes first.

She slipped her delicate hands to the bottom of her shirt, and had only pulled it up to her belly button when the boy-scout ran into the room loudly talking about dinner.

"Gabby, I want macaroni and cheese!" He whined and sat on the bed.

Nicholas cursed and picked up the phone.

Gabby smiled at him and walked over to her dresser. She was about to respond when the phone beside the bed rang. The little boy answered.

"Hello?" He asked.

"Hey kid," Nicholas growled into the phone. "Why don't you go down stairs and let your sister change?"

The kid's nose wrinkled. "Who's this?!"

"The ice cream man!" He snapped sarcastically.

Gabby looked up and out the window. Her eyes widened in shock and she ran over, opening the window and poking her head out.

"Hey!" She yelled. "Get out of here! Mark, call the police."

Mark didn't listen, as any ten year-old wouldn't. He pulled out his slingshot with an angry glare and aimed.

Nicholas laughed.

Mark let go of the string, sending a rock shooting out of the window and straight between Nicholas's eyes. He fell back out of the tree screaming until his body thumped against the ground.

But he didn't stop. Well, his body stopped, but his soul kept going. And going, and going. Until he was launched through a forest of flames and onto a charred and rocky floor. He coughed and groaned at the aching pains in his neck and back.

Pushing himself up, Nicholas brushed off his pants and looked around the smoldering rock lobby he was in. Across from him was a large red chair that looked like it was pulled out of an antique dining room. In it sat a young man, lounging across it with his legs crossed, hanging off the end. Long black hair laid flatly across one eye and he was dressed completely Goth. He looked like any punk teenage girl's dream.

But what bothered Nicholas the most was the lengthy black wings that stuck out of his back. They were at least his height across and wrapped around his arms like a blanket.

The young man looked completely bored. He lifted his blue eyes to Nicholas and shook his hair out of his face as a sly smirk crept onto his face—though the hair fell right back into place.

"Hey." He said in a husky voice that made him look nothing but cool.

"Welcome to hell."

* * *

**New Story Time! No trailer or warning, just a preface/chapter.**

**And yes, the other chapters will be longer ;]**


	2. 10,000 Years

_Welcome to our family time,_

_Welcome to our brotherly time._

* * *

Troy stared in amusement at the stout, balding man standing in front of him. His brown tux was wet and blackened from the char on the floor and the sweat in his brow. He kept dabbing at his forehead and licking his lips speechlessly. Troy looked down at the list in front of him.

"Nicholas Perkins." He announced. "Age: forty-three; occupation: owner of several porn sites; sin: lust; hobbies: watching the neighbor change?" He smiled and leaned his head back, but there was evidence of disgust in his cobalt eyes. "That sound like you?"

Nicholas's eyes widened and he stuttered uselessly. "T-that's none of your b-business! I-I'll sue! Let-let me out!" He backed up and turned to run, only to find himself in front of an endless wall of fire. Troy clicked his tongue sympathetically.

"I'll take that as a yes." He made a check on the list. "And sorry, but there's no lawyers in hell. No court either. And the only way out is—" I paused and stared at Nicholas, trying to decide how crazy he was. "Well, there really is no way."

"You-" Nicholas pointed at Troy, shaking his head. He stumbled backwards on to his bottom awkwardly. "You're insane! N-none of this is real! I'm dreaming!"

Troy rolled his eyes. "Have you ever actually _said_that in a dream? I can assure you you're in hell, as you should be. Damn, I hate checking people in. Anyways, let's see what your eternal punishment is…" He blew a puff of air from his mouth and clicked his tongue. "Ouch…sorry but, you've got coal mining." He jerked his thumb to a red parakeet perched on the corner of the chair. "Aratinga here will fill you in on the rules and schedule and what not." The bird cocked his head and flew off towards a dark tunnel.

"Quickly, quickly now!" He squawked impatiently. "Hell is a busy place!"

Nicholas whimpered and waddled off after the parakeet. Troy lifted his head and sat up, resting his firm chin on his hand, staring sullenly at the wall of flames that licked the ceiling, hungrily waiting to spit out another sinner.

He heard footsteps running down the rocky tunnel and looked up to see Kaz, his demon cousin, gallop into the room. He was built much like that of a troll, with slightly more human features and two horns the curled back behind his ears.

Troy jumped down from his perch and landed with his hands in his pockets and stalked off without saying a word to Kaz, who took his place in the chair.

"Hey!" Kaz yelled tauntingly with a deep voice. "What? Your not going to stay and talk with your cousin?"

Troy kept going, completely ignoring the demon. Kaz stood up angrily.

"Don't make me call Max and Hanson!" He warned viciously. Troy froze in mid-step and snapped his head back to Kaz. He narrowed his eyes, looking for some kind of bluff. When he saw none, his eyes widened.

"No!" He pleaded desperately. "Just-just what do you want?"

Kaz smiled cruelly, thinking of what he could make Troy do. His eyes wandered around the lobby and landed on the wall of fire. He pointed.

"Touch it."

"What?!" The black-haired devil shook his head furiously. "That's mutiny!"

The wall of fire was the gateway between Earth and Hell. If anyone were to go through it in the opposite direction and leave Hell, it would freeze and no souls but that of a devil could come through. Without and souls coming in, the High Devil would deteriorate until he was nothing but a pile of dust in a matter of days. Simply touching it could result in being sucked through. Kaz snickered playfully.

"It's not as long as you don't get sucked in!"

Troy turned and walked briskly back towards the tunnels. "No." He said flatly. "And you should think twice before you talk to me like that again!"

"What are you going to do, Troy? Tell daddy?"

He turned and glared at Kaz with nothing but hate. His blue eyes were rimmed in black and red, like a crowbar on fire. Kaz flinched and sat back into his chair as another soul tumbled out of the fire. Troy smirked coldly and continued on through the tunnel, hearing Kaz's voice fade into the distance.

"Angela Williams. Age: thirty-two; occupation: banker; sin: greed…"

He sighed tiredly. Thousands of souls a second thrown into hell. Robbers, murderers, rapists, and more disgusting things he didn't want to think about. Earth must be a sick place if it's filled with these people. Then again, hell was only offered the worst of them, which probably pleased most of the demons who enjoyed torture and whatnot. But not Troy; every time a soul tumbled through the flames, crying and screaming in hatred, his stomach rolled nauseatingly. Half of the people may not belong here, he realized, they really didn't look very deep into these things. A robber? Instantly branded a sinner of greed. But what if they stole because they had no money and their family was starving? "Stealing is stealing." But that made Earth more sick. Down here, everyone was a sinner, and the sinners were the ones who were tortured. But up on Earth…up there it was usually the innocent who was in pain, with the sinners feeling pleasure.

He emerged into a large plaza that was covered by a ceiling, at least fifty feet above his head. One large pillar climbed from the floor to the top in the middle of the room. A few souls moped, sweating and panting, with she-devils holding a whip behind them. One she-devil turned and winked at Troy seductively, to which he forced a smile in return. She trilled happily and yelled at the working soul before her to walk faster.

Troy continued on, closing his long black wings around his body like a coat. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully before freezing in mid-step. He stuck his tongue to the roof of his mouth to keep himself from speaking. His heart skipped a beat in fright and started again in a too-fast rhythm.

"What's wrong, Troy?" Sneered Max, flicking his long blond hair back, revealing a pair of twisted horns above his ears. His eyes glowed crimson, laughing at his brother silently. Hanson stood beside Max, at least a head taller with black hair like Troy's and crimson eyes. His muscles rippled under his skin. If it weren't for the horns above the brothers' ears, they would have looked human. Just as Troy would without his wings.

Troy glared at them spitefully. "What do you want?"

"Father told us to find you." Hanson said calmly."He's going to choose who will rule over hell for the next ten-thousand years. Certainly you haven't forgotten?"

"Of course not!" Troy snapped as Aratinga landed gently on his shoulder. He nipped Troy's ear affectionately.

_What troubles you? _He asked curiously in his mind.

Aratinga was a possessed parakeet who was shot out of Earth. When he landed in hell, he became Troy's minion, so he could speak to him with only Troy hearing.

_Nothing._ Troy told him._ They think I forgot, but it really doesn't matter much to me. I wouldn't be chosen if I was the only son he had!_

_Your so negative sometimes._

"Let's go." Hanson ordered and turned around through the tunnel he and Max had come from, walking with his younger brothers in pursuit until they reached another lobby, more heat radiating from the firewall. Troy stared at it blankly, imagining what it would be like to go through it, and shuddered. He wondered what other emotions the people on Earth had that weren't part of the seven deadly sins; greed, gluttony, sloth, anger, lust, pride, envy. Most of the…residents here, didn't feel anything other than those. He'd often heard the sinners mutter about the lack of some they'd had on Earth, and frequently heard the word "love." What was that?

"What's wrong, Troy?" Max called, not sounding concerned in any way. "Your staring off into space again!"

"Nothing." He said tightly.

"What?" Max continued tauntingly. "Are you worrying about how Father will pick me over you, because you can't win a single mind battle?"

Hanson sighed and muttered something like "here we go again" and quickened his pace. Troy winced, not wanting to get into another fight with Max, but his pride was in the way. If he simply stepped down to the challenge, wouldn't that be weak? At least he could _try_, at least then he wouldn't be a coward.

"Ha." Troy sniffed. "I bet you couldn't beat me again."

_Troy…_Aratinga whined. _Not now…_

"Oh?" Max turned, an evil glint in his eyes. "Is that so?"

Troy sent walls up around his mind the second the statement was finished. He felt a constant battering against the wall, like a log being used to force open a castle's gate. He winced and doubled the walls. He felt Aratinga's presence, mending any damage to the walls with his own small power. Hanson studied their faces, unable to tell what was happening in their battle of minds.

_Enough._ Troy growled and narrowed his eyes at Max. He sent his own daggers at Max's "wall" and grunted in frustration when only a small crack appeared. He attacked the same spot, battering and battering at whatever painful memory he could conjure. He saw Max cringe, and then smile. He realized with horror that while he had been prying at Max's mind, he had neglected his own defenses. Max had broken through, and if he didn't act quickly his body and mind would be under his control. It was too late to stop Max, so he needed to find a memory that was painful for both of them. It didn't matter how simple or small, so he remembered when Max had been caught pulling on his young wings when they were small, the pain was physical for Troy, but Max had been scolded thoroughly by the High Devil. They both shrieked and were torn from each other's minds.

Aratinga screamed when the brother's were thrown in opposite directions, crashing into the walls of the lobby. Troy felt a sharp pain in his back—a wing had been torn. He could see Max across from him, cursing and pushing fallen rocks away from him. He glared at Troy.

"That was a cheap trick!" He bellowed.

Tory opened his mouth the retort, but was interrupted by a yell so loud it shook all of Hell.

"ENOUGH!"

Aratinga silently fluttered to Troy's shoulder, inspecting his back while all three brother's jumped to their feet and stood perfectly still. Before them appeared their father, the High Devil, with a long red robe dragging on the floor. His eyes were red as fire and the horns above his ears jutted out into jagged knives behind his ears. He looked almost human, with a long black beard and short hair atop his head. He was at least eight feet tall.

Troy, Hanson, and Max bowed respectfully and straightened, keeping their eyes to the ground.

"Ten thousand years…" He rumbled, sitting on the throne behind him. "They told me it would pass quickly." He gazed across at all of his sons, only the smallest hint of compassion in his eyes—which lingered on Troy. "I've no reason to give a speech, I presume? Whomever I choose tonight shall take my place as High Devil for the next thousand years, ruling all of Hell until his time is up. You must remember, however," He narrowed his eyes. "Hell is a balance of good and evil. I cannot choose someone who will not fulfill that balance." He paused and sighed wearily.

Max and Hanson shuffled their feet anxiously, glancing around the lobby, imagining what it would be like to have complete control of this place. Troy just wanted to go somewhere _away_ from them.

"Unfortunately." Their father said. "I do not believe any of you are prepared for that responsibility."

All three brothers sucked in a breath of shock.

_But who will control Hell? _Troy wondered to Aratinga. The bird shifted anxiously on his shoulder.

_If my knowledge is not misled, then I think it means—_

"I will continue my reign for the next ten thousand years. Or until I see one of you fit to take my place."

Max and Hanson yelled out in protest, their tempers flaring until their father silenced them with a wave of his hand.

"My decision is final! I'll have no objections!"

They lingered for a moment, wondering if they should continue, before turning and storming out into one of the tunnels, leaving the room quaking when they stepped. Troy heaved a sigh of relief and turned to exit through the opposite tunnel. Aratinga flew slowly behind him, staying quiet while he contemplated Troy's mood.

"Troy."

Troy stopped, turning his head back to the High Devil uncertainly.

"Yes, sir?" He asked politely, slightly breathless at the surprising level of gentleness in his father's eyes. Like cold fire.

"You've practiced your mind's defenses, haven't you?"

_He observed your fight. _Aratinga gasped in surprise.

"Yes." He muttered.

"Good." His face was suddenly dark. "That is very good. I have a feeling you will be needing it in the near future."

"Um…yes, sir." Troy stammered, flushed. He stumbled through the tunnel, rather disorientated.

_I don't like that, Troy. _Aratinga whined. _I don't like the way he said that at all._

_______

**Ha…sorry that took so long! Told you the chapters would be longer! The real action starts next chapter, I promise. I might try to get that out this weekend, but no promises. It's the last two-and-a-half weeks of school, so I'm ambushed with studying and finals, you know? Summer is soon, though! Eleven days to be exact. (fifteen if you count the weekends.)**

**If you review, Aratinga might just sing for you! He has a lovely chirp.**


	3. Through the Fire and Flames

_I've just seen a face, I can't forget the time or place,_

_where we just met, she's just the girl for me,_

_and I want all the world to see,_

_we've met._

* * *

Troy closed his eyes and sighed, listening to the music blast from the stereo under his bed. The speakers pounded with the beat of the music, sending vibrations up through his bed frame and to his body, leaving a faint buzz in his ear. Aratinga perched on a shelf on the other side of the "room." – which looked more like a cave with a bedroom's furnishings.

_In your darkest dreams see to believe_

_Our destiny is time_

_And endlessly we'll all be free tonight! _

Aratinga watched him quietly, occasionally stretching his legs and flapping his wings without moving anywhere. Troy started to doze off, his head falling to the side limply.

"Troy." Aratinga said when the song ended. Troy opened one eye and looked at him questioningly.

He looked over at the clock that was taped crookedly to the wall. Three forty-five.

"You have your lesson at Four, and I have to relieve Kaz of duty from the fire-gate, yes?"

"Right." Troy mumbled and pushed himself up. He reached down and clicked off the stereo before stretching his arms over his head and yawning. "I hate lessons. All I do is watch Earth's most pathetic people try to sell their soul for stupid things. You know one guy tried to sell his soul for a pack of cigarettes?"

The red parakeet blinked in surprise and laughed, which sounded weird coming from a bird. "It's required when you have a one out of three chance of becoming the high devil. You need to know when to say yes or no. Besides, a lot of people would sell their soul to be so close to the High Devil at work." He winked and flew off out the window to take Kaz's place at the fire-gate. Troy sighed again and looked at the clock again. Three fifty. No time to take the stairs. He shrugged and stepped out of the window, suspending his wings only enough to slow himself down, though the wind still whipped across his face, before landing lightly on the ground and wrapping them around his torso, as always.

It took only a few minutes for him to reach the High Devil's Throne, a large room empty of anything but the throne that sat on the slightly elevated ground. It was the only room, other than the lobbies, that was open to the fire-gate. Only, here in the throne room, the fire burned blue and green, spitting out live souls that usually remained only temporarily in Hell. The High Devil was already seated in his throne, his chin lifted proudly as he towered over the soul before him. Troy stood in the far side of the room, listening quietly.

His presence was acknowledged with a nod by a father before he turned back to the soul.

"Please," She begged. She wasn't significantly attractive, but she wasn't unattractive either. Average. "Please, I need him to love me! Don't you understand?! I can't live without him!"

The High Devil pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. He looked over at Troy and rumbled, "Troy? What do you think?"

The soul turned sharply towards Troy, and he noticed the tears running down her face. A sharp pang of pity washed through him. She seemed so sincere, but…

"Definitely not." He said after a moments pause. "Love needs the presence of a soul in both partners, selling your soul for love is as useless as eating air to satisfy hunger."

His father nodded in approval. Troy saw the corners of his lips twitch into and almost-smile. He couldn't help but grin with pride. Approval of the High Devil? Demons would die happy if their ruler so much as acknowledged their existence.

"No!" She screamed. "_No!_ You can't do this!"

With a wave of the High Devil's hand, the soul vanished in an instant. Her memory of trying to sell her soul and ever being in Hell would be erased. No human soul could see Hell and return to Earth, absolutely not. He rubbed his temples and groaned. Troy narrowed his eyes worriedly.

"Sir?" He stammered. "Do you want me to call the Ambassador?"

"No, no. I'm just feeling a bit….fatigued."

Troy opened his mouth to speak when a flying ball of red crashed into his side with such force he tumbled over onto the ground. The High Devil gave a grunt of surprise.

"_Ow_. What the fuck?" Troy groaned and pushed himself up, dazed. His eyes traveled to the shaking red parakeet on the ground in front of him that was wailing as if his wings had been cut off. "Aratinga!"

"Horrible!" He wailed. "Terrible! Disgraceful!" Aratinga's head waved back and forth, his wings flapping uselessly. Troy reached out and gently picked him up in one hand, securing his fingers over the bird so that he couldn't flail. He used his other hand to calmly rub the space under Aratinga's beak, soothing him with careful expertise. The High Devil watched curiously.

"Aratinga…" Troy said softly. "Tell me what's wrong." A command from a master, the minion could not resist answering with only the truth.

"Hanson and Max!" He gasped. "They've escaped from Hell! The fire-gate is frozen!"

Sure enough, as the words died on his beak, the blue-green fire before them began to stop licking the ceiling and thickened into a huge block of ice. It was completely frozen over, thicker than even the rock that made up the walls of the High Devil's Throne. The High Devil let out another groan and sank back into his chair after jumping up in shock. Troy was frozen in horror.

"My fault…" Aratinga moaned. "Couldn't stop them. The Ambassador is on his way!"

Troy let his fingers fall limp and the bird carefully climbed his arm and rested on his shoulder instinctively, huddling under his jaw. Troy could feel him shaking, and he lifted a hand automatically and stroked the back of the bird's head. His father was quiet, and waited patiently for the Ambassador. His face was cool and calm, but his red eyes were filled with torment.

If the fire-gate was frozen, then no souls could enter Hell. The High Devil would deteriorate in only a matter of time…and then what? What about all the sinners on Earth who died; would they go to heaven? Or maybe to some other place for sinners would be created to keep them all. Maybe they wouldn't die? Troy suddenly thought of Nicholas Perkins, and the girl he had been peeping on right before he died. The short report of his death stated that a large part of his sin was the fact that she was only eighteen! He shuddered at the thought of more girls like her never given proper justice because the fire-gate could accept no more souls.

Trying to take his mind away from the situation until the Ambassador arrived, he idly wondered how old he would be on Earth. About twenty; still young, but mature.

Finally the Ambassador arrived, appearing beside the throne as if by magic. He wasted no time with greetings and launched right into the task at hand.

"No human or demon soul is getting through there." He said, disgusted. "It's frozen solid. My only guess as to their intentions was that they would wait on Earth for the High Devil to deteriorate, and then return and claim the throne for themselves." He paused and glanced at Troy and away. "Our only chance to inflame the gate again is to bring them back."

They were all silent for a while, considering the possibilities. Kaz had joined them and was leaning against the wall thoughtfully.

"Can't _you_ go get them?" He said to the High Devil.

He shook his head wearily as the Ambassador pulled out a tape measure. "The High Devil cannot leave Hell. Besides, I'm already to weak to be separated from my horns."

Kaz turned to the Ambassador suggestively. He shook his head. "I've no demon blood, child. And by my measurements, he's got less than a week."

"Well, there's always Troy."

Troy said nothing; he didn't really think Kaz was serious. The Ambassador studied him carefully before sighing.

"It could work." He said simply. Troy stiffened and his eyes widened. Aratinga gave a strangled squawk of protest.

"_Me?_ Are you _joking?_" He exclaimed in shock. _"_Against Max, maybe! But Hanson? I'd never stand a chance."

"What's the worst that could happen? As soon as you died you'd end up back here and you could try again!" Kaz snarled.

"Then it's decided. Troy, go get them." The Ambassador said, just like that. Troy blinked at him blankly.

"Your kidding! How am I supposed to do _that_?"

A red medallion clanked across the floor and stopped in front of Troy. There was a black imprint of a flame's outline branded into the shining steel sphere, which was connected to a silver crescent—like a globe. Troy picked it up and felt the cold shock of the medal against his hand.

"Use that. You'll have to beat them in a mind-battle first, and make them say the words "I am forever a slave to Hell and it's High Devil." Then, their soul will be sucked into that red sphere until they are released in Hell. But remember, you have to have them come here at the same time, or else the fire-gate will not unfreeze."

Troy was standing in front of the ice now, doing his best not to tremble. It was happening so fa_st_. He didn't know how to act on Earth, let alone live there for a week. He didn't know how he would even _find _Max and Hanson. Aratinga batted his wings nervously.

"Sir," Troy said, stringing the medallion around his neck. "You said something about not having your horns on Earth…"

"Ah," The High Devil said. "Yes. When you enter Earth, you are given a mortal soul, and all of the characteristics about you that make you immortal are stripped away. For you, it will be your wings. Max and Hanson will not have their horns either. It's possible to get them back, and Hanson may already have done it, but it means coming over a great obstacle that only _you_ can be given."

He couldn't remember much after that.

---

The next thing Troy knew, he was laying on the side of the road in New York city, disoriented and lost. And _freezing_. The sky was black with one giant orb of white, barely visible around the buildings and lampposts. A few people still milled in the streets—but most of them stumbled and laughed at nothing with a half-dressed slut on their arm. Aratinga was waiting patiently beside Troy, not looking at all surprised by the scene.

_Good morning. _He said in amusement.

"M-" Troy stated, but was interrupted by a sharp snapping in his head.

_Don't speak to me out loud. Mortal birds don't speak like me---except for parrots, but they sound funny. _

_Oh. Sorry. _

He shivered and was struck by the absence of weight on his back. The past five hours crashed into his memory. His father had chosen himself to lead Hell for the next ten-thousand years, and his brother's Max and Hanson were roaming some where around waiting for him to die so they could go back and claim his throne, forcing Troy to come to Earth and find them and bring them back before the end of the week. Wonderful.

_I'm gonna die. _He told the bird simply.

_In which case you'll just come right back here. Now, you need some clothes, food, and a place to stay. _

_Let's find clothes first._

He stood up and started pacing down the sidewalk, sidestepping a man laying on the ground with an empty beer-bottle rolling out of his hand. Aratinga fluttered onto his shoulder peering into the shops lining the street. He pointed with a foot and told Troy to go into one of the only ones that were still lit and open.

They quickly picked out three t-shirts, two pairs of jeans, and a hoodie. Troy paid with the money Aratinga told him was in his pocket and pulled the clothes on in an alley beside the shop. Next, they stopped at a McDonald's beside a bar and strip-club. Troy walked quickly to the counter where a short girl stood. She had long black hair that fell down her back in locks, and big brown eyes that seemed to swirl with life. Troy found himself having to catch his breath in front of her. She rose one finely plucked eyebrow at him.

"It's three in the morning." She told him. He liked her voice—it was sweet, but had a sarcastic twist in her tone. "Your up late."

"So are you." He said pointedly. She smiled and shrugged.

He liked her smile even more than her voice.

"Fair enough." She sighed and stifled a yawn. "What do you want to order?"

_Pick a number five._ Aratinga said excitedly.

"Ah-" He said—he forgot Aratinga was there. "Um, a number five."

"'Kay." She typed something onto the register and walked back behind two medal doors. She was gone for a few minutes, in which Troy found himself staring in shock at a small mirror placed on the counter. His long hair still brushed the tips of his ears, and fell into his eyes, but it was brown now—not black. And his _eyes, _they were still blue, but only blue. The "crow-bar-on-fire" ring around them had faded into a darker shade of blue. The girl returned with a tray that held a double cheese burger, a large carton of fries, and a dark-colored liquid that he remotely realized was soda—his mouth started to water. As soon as she set the tray down, Aratinga climbed down his arm slowly and pecked a fry out of the carton.

"Is that your bird?" She said in surprise.

"Yeah." He absently lifted the burger to his lips and bit into it.

"What's his name?" She asked, gently rubbing the area under his beak—the place where Troy always did to calm him down.

"Aratinga." He said and laughed. She looked up at him questioningly. "You look very excited."

"I love animals."

Troy grinned at the sheepish smile on her face. Aratinga silently picked up another fry. "What's your name?" He asked curiously.

"Gabriella." She said shyly.

"Mmm." He said. He liked her name too. "Mine's Troy." He handed her the money for the food and stretched. He and Aratinga quietly finished their food at the counter before Troy sighed and straightened, rolling his shoulders tiredly. "I'd better go, I guess."

"Yeah." Gabriella said. "I'm gonna close up now anyways. Maybe I'll see you around?"

"Hopefully." He said, and grinned again.

He liked her voice, her smile, her eyes, her blush, but he really liked the way she made him smile. Nobody had made him want to smile like that before. Aratinga glanced at Gabriella and then Troy again skeptically before fluttering onto Troy's shoulder.

_Don't you remember what your father told you before you left?_ He said disapprovingly as they walked out of the restaurant.

_Not really._ Troy replied, toying with the small medallion that dangled around his neck.

---

**Hmmm….**

**Sorry it took long again!**

**School's over on Wednesday so I'll update once a week from now on! Yay!**

**I didn't like the way this chapter started out so much….and I'm pretty bad at transitioning from scene to scene….but I was pleased with the end. **

**Gabriella is fun to write about :)**

**Review?**


	4. Roommates

_I just hit the floor,_

_Don't ask for more,_

_I'm wasting my time.__

* * *

_

It's freezing here.

_Troy, it's eighty degrees. _

_Yeah, well, in Hell it's probably one-ten. _

Troy stuffed his hands in his pockets and peered around the crowded sidewalk of New York City. Everyone walking here had an expression of either pure boredom or distaste for where they were going. The streets were jammed with traffic, every other car honking their horn like they expected it to make a difference. The air was filled with the acrid stink of gasoline and smoke, considering every other _person_had a cigarette between their teeth and the buses belched out puffs of brown smoke into the air every few seconds.

_You lived in this place before you were shot? _He asked Aratinga, cocking an eyebrow.

_No._ The bird told him stiffly. _I lived in the country. Not many people or cars down there. Mostly grass and clean air._

_Sounds nice._

_A lot better than this place._

_I'll bet._

He made his way through the crowd, only guided by the red of Aratinga's tail as he flew from roof to roof of the stores lining the street. The only places that didn't seem to have a body were the benches and alleys. Somewhere—he couldn't remember where—Troy bumped shoulders painfully with a man in a black tux and found himself being moved farther by the crowd than his own feet. This place made Hell feel almost empty, but, Hell was a lot bigger, and probably had a thousand times more souls that this City.

_There's an apartment downtown that can use another roommate. We're going to see if you can stay there._

_Don't we need money?_

_You have more in the other pocket. _

_Oh._

By the time they reached downtown, the temperature dropped three degrees and the sun was a few 'inches' lower in the sky. Not that it made a difference to Troy—when it was cold, it was cold. Seventy-seven degrees or eighty, it was still colder than Hell had ever been. And the dark? Screw it, no time on Earth is illuminated the same way as Hell. It was different in every way, but not better or worse. The only reason Earth could be considered worse was the fact that he had no power whatsoever—but neither did the people.

They walked up the dim hallway of the apartment building with a leisurely pace.

The floor was covered by a carpet in an ugly shade of green and Troy could guess that it was once shag, but years of being trampled over had turned it to a flat mat with nearly no padding walls were long planks of wood, smoothed to the point of shine, and lit by small lamps protruding from the wood. Despite it's rundown appearance, the building had a homey feel to it.

Troy knocked uncertainly one the large black door labeled '_room 325_' and clutched the laminated ad in his other hand. It took a moment of shuffling noises from the other side before the door opened to reveal a tall African-American young man with a large black afro of hair on his head. The small beginnings of a beard were placed on his chin, which was angled perfectly beneath his face. He wore a white t-shirt and khaki shorts.

"Hey, man." He said lightly. "What's up?"

Troy held up the ad and rose his eyebrows suggestively. The man studied it for less than a moment before his face broke out into a huge grin.

"Chad." He said, sticking out a hand. Troy took it with a firm grip and smiled.

"Troy." He coughed and motioned to the red parakeet on his shoulder. "And this is Aratinga."

Chad studied the bird carefully. "Is it, you know…_trained_?" He asked skeptically.

_How rude._Aratinga thought unhappily.

Troy laughed. "Would he be on my shoulder if he wasn't?"

Chad's skeptic look was replaced with amusement.

"I hope not."

---

The apartment was a large, three-bedroom, two-bathroom suite. There was a living area right inside of the door, with two couches angled strangely in front of a large TV and hardwood floors that looked ten times newer than the rest of the room. It was hard to tell what color the walls were; there were posters of Led Zeppelin, Ozzy Osborne, and other bands and movies Troy had never heard of. The living area was joined with the kitchen by a bar that was the length of half the room.

Troy, Chad, and now Jason, a husky brunette with mushroom-cap styled hair, who had moved into the apartment with Chad after high school, were sitting on the couches watching college basketball—Hartford against New Hampshire. By now Chad was on his feet, yelling about fouls and Troy was slowly learning the game by watching the players dart up and down the court. Jason was still seated, grinning and laughing at Chad's reactions.

He looked over at Troy and down at the red medallion dangling from his neck.

"What's that?" He asked, jerking his head to show what he meant.

Troy's hand automatically grasped the sphere as if to make sure it was still there. The sun glinted off of the white half crescent from the window. "This?"

Aratinga shuffled uncomfortably from the window sill. Jason nodded as Chad sat down, looking just as curious.

_You can't tell them, Troy._

_I know that._

"It's just a medallion." He said carefully. "It was...a gift."

Chad squinted at it for a closer look and nodded approvingly. "Cool."

They turned back to the TV as someone scored a half-court shot. Chad whooped and fell back into the couch and Jason grabbed the hair at the side of his head and yelled. Even Troy was impressed. The game continued and the boys got more and more enthusiastic until all three of them were jumping and laughing and falling back into the couches together. Eventually the game ended—Albany beating New Hampshire by one point. Troy, Chad, and Jason were panting more than the players walking off the court when Jason got up and passed a beer to each of them.

"Are we all of age, children?" He joked, and Troy had a feeling he would give it to them anyways. He would give himself and extra year, just in case someone asked. Twenty-one. The beer stung his throat, but only slightly and it was worth the taste and light buzz in the back of his head.

They all looked up in unison when a creek outside of the door sounded and was followed by light giggles in a pitch that was surely young women. Chad grinned even wider and dumped the rest of the beer down his throat before standing up and rubbing his hands together. Jason grabbed Troy's arm and pulled him out of the way between Chad and the door, seconds before it opened. He was still in the half falling position when a flurry of blonde hair ran straight from the door and into Chad's arms. She was followed by another girl, much more slowly, with long, dark brown locks of hair falling off of her shoulders neatly.

_Gabriella!_

Gabriella paused in mid step when she saw Troy, her beautiful brown orbs for eyes widened in surprise and a small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.

"Hey, Troy." She said sweetly. He smiled and waved slightly, straightening his position of mid-fall.

The blonde one looked up from Chad's embrace. "Ooh," She sang. "Is this your new roomie?"

"Yes, ma'am. That's Sharpay." Jason said, throwing an arm over Troy's shoulder. He glanced at Gabriella and back to Troy. "You two know each other from somewhere?"

Troy rubbed the back of his neck as Gabriella giggled. "Uh, yeah…McDonalds."

"At three in the morning." Gabriella added. Chad rose his eyebrows, holding Sharpay close to his side.

"And, may I ask, Troy, what the hell were you doing out at three in the morning?"

Troy coughed awkwardly as Aratinga flew back to the windowsill from wherever he'd journeyed during the game. "Sleeping."

Chad and Jason both threw their heads back and laughed, Jason patting Troy on the back harder than necessary. Gabriella and Sharpay glanced at him sympathetically. Jason passed another beer to Sharpay and held one out in front of Gabriella without letting it go.

"_You,_ little lady, are not old enough for alcohol." He said, poking her shoulder. Troy blinked in surprise. How young was she? Gabriella laughed and pushed the beer towards him.

"That's alright." She said mischievously. "You guys only have the cheap stuff anyways."

"Yup," Sharpay said, licking her lips after what seemed to be a kiss Troy had missed when he was busy staring at Gabriella. "Gabby only likes Belvedere on the rocks with lemon. Very picky."

Gabriella winked at Troy quickly so only he could see, and having her this tantalizingly close, talking about alcohol, and winking at him was only too much to bear. It took very much self-control to not walk—no _run_—over there and make her his on the spot. Aratinga scolded him for having such thoughts. "I don't drink that much anyways, so why not go to town when I do?"

He laughed and Sharpay rose her glass and yelled, "Cheers to that!"

---

Troy sat on the floor in front of the couch, leaning comfortably against Gabriella's legs, stroking the blue spot under Aratinga's beak as "The Grudge" played on the TV screen in front of the group. The girl's had each claimed a couch for their own, leaving the boy's to find a spot on the floor—not that he minded. It was past midnight, and Sharpay already looked half-asleep with Chad absently stroking her hair.

_We've wasted a day. _Aratinga sighed.

_I know. We'll start early tomorrow. _

_Then you should get some sleep. Devil knows your going to have a hangover. _

_How am I supposed to find them, anyways? It's not like they'll happily walk up to me if I call for them. _He thought impatiently, ignoring the second comment.

_Your best bet would be to skim through the minds of the people on the street. Normal humans won't have any defenses and it'll take less than a second to know if they're one of your brothers._

_It'll be tedious._

Aratinga recoiled in shock at his reluctant mood. _But isn't it worth saving your father's life? And Hell too!_

_I know! It is! _He said quickly, hurt that he would think so low of him. _I'll do whatever I have too._

A sudden jolt in the couch behind him made Troy snap out of his conversation with Aratinga. He looked up to see Gabriella sitting straight up, her sides heaving and her eyes wide in fright.

"Gabriella?" He whispered, noticing that the people around him were asleep. She looked over at him and relaxed, running her hands through her hair.

"Sorry.." She said breathlessly. "I guess I fell asleep. Bad dream…"

He looked back at the clock. Almost one. Troy sighed and pushed himself up off the ground, Aratinga fluttering to his shoulder. He tossed Gabriella a few pillows and a blanket from the floor, knowing that somehow offering her his room would make her uncomfortable. He stretched and yawned.

"It's okay, right?" He said, and when she—quite adorably—turned her head to the side, he added, "The dream, it's over, right?—Good so go back to sleep."

He clicked off the TV and walked towards his bed room, hearing a soft "good-night" from the girl on the couch, but felt that he wasn't supposed to hear so he didn't react.

_Whatever I have to do._

* * *

**AHHH it's so short!!!**

**I considered this before I uploaded, but then realized that I don't want to add the next events in this one quite yet..**

**And it took a while too! Sorry sorry sorry (times 3) I had family over, then 4th of July celebrations..**

**Who was I to think I would have more time to update in the summer?**

**Oh well...review? :)**


	5. Aratinga's Big Mouth

**Thank you for reviewing!!! I love hearing what you have to say. :)**_

* * *

If I go crazy then will you still call me superman?_

_If I'm alive and well will you still be there holding my hand?_

_I'll keep you by my side with my super human might,_

_Kryptonite._

* * *

When he woke up the next morning, Troy's head was pounding—and Aratinga had no sympathy for him. He bit his shoulder painfully to wake him up at six AM, ignored his complaints, and ushered him around the room to get ready for the day.

_We wasted yesterday. There's no time for spending the day with your friends. Hell could very well freeze over in a week if we don't hurry up. Or worse, Max or Hanson will steal the throne as soon as your father is reduced to a pile of nothing. _

_Your terrible at pep talks, you know?_

_I'm not your coach. I'm your minion. Now hurry up! _

Troy grumbled about who the real minion was in this situation as he pulled on a clean pair of shorts and threw on a shirt and his sweatshirt. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he quietly pushed the door to his bedroom open and crept into the living area. Gabriella was sleeping soundly on the couch, curled up into a ball under the blanket he'd tossed on her the night before.

He stared at her while stuffing a bowl of Fruit Loops down his throat, quite enjoying watching her innocent face so calm and peaceful. Troy quietly stepped out of the apartment, careful not to slam the door in fear of waking Gabriella up and jogged down the old hallway. As he stepped out onto the curb, the hairs on his arm stood on end.

_It's fucking freezing! _

_That's because it's six AM. It'll warm up by eleven. _Aratinga sighed impatiently.

_Maybe I should go back to sleep until then…._

_No! The streets are already full of people. Get to work._

Troy sighed and walked a few feet into an alley where he couldn't be seen and began searching the minds of the people passing by.

"_Dumbass boss, why can't he get his own coffee?"_

"_Ugh, I hope Timmy's school doesn't call me at work to pick him up again…"_

"_Where's the dealer already?!"_

"_Fuck, I forgot my keys."_

"_I wish more people would by from my stand…"_

"_Okay..I have to go to the dry cleaners, liquor store, grocery store…"_

"_Is that was she calls a quickie? More like half…"_

About two seconds passed and he was bored out of his mind. Aratinga again reminded him about Hell freezing over and decided to add a description this time, and Troy went straight back to the minds of pedestrians. Some things they thought about were interesting; plans for building, new family members, art projects, and some just plain had a song in their head he liked. But usually it was complaints about their life, their boss, their spouse, their dog, their neighbor, themselves.

And none of them were his brothers. His legs were becoming stiff after a few hours, and the streets were emptying as people went to work. Only a few cars still passed by, and he checked their minds in the few seconds he had. A little girl skipped by and her head was full of colors and stuffed animals and it was a bit too much for him.

It did warm up a bit by noon, and he eventually adjusted to the air and his surroundings.

He sat on a bench on 4th street when Aratinga permitted him to get lunch and chewed on the soggy sandwich he'd gotten from Subway quietly. The streets were virtually empty and he found himself having a strange conversation with a homeless man for the lack of company. Aratinga had flown off to do some searching of his own while Troy ate.

"That's a nice necklace you got there.." The man said gruffly. He had a long grey beard and a large gut that stuck out under his grease-stained shirt. Troy brought his hand up to the medallion.

"Thanks."

"Can I have it?"

"Um….No?"

He shrugged and took a swig of the liquor bottle in his hand. "Got any spare change for me? Don't have a house, you know."

Troy frowned at him. "I would if I didn't think you'd spend it to refill that bottle in your hand."

The man laughed heartily, a laugh that came straight from his belly. He tapped on his temple. "Your perceptive, kid. I'll give you that."

_TROY!!!_

Troy looked up to see Aratinga flying frantically towards him. His voice was panicked and screaming and he hovered in the air in front of Troy without landing.

_Troy! Come quickly! _And without explaining he turned and began fluttering in the direction he came from. Troy stood up and dropped the rest of his sandwich to his new friend and ran after the bird. Even without his wings he was faster than most people and kept up easily.

_What's wrong?!_

_It's Gabriella! _He cried. _Some men have her cornered in the alley down the road!_

His heart began to pound as he ran a little bit faster. The butterflies she made flutter in his stomach were frozen in fear, twisting his stomach anxiously. He was relieved to see that the streets were empty and nobody was there to slow him down.

He could hear them now, the next alley. He could hear the men's voices and her frightened one. He was boiling with anger when he reached the end of the alley. Picking up a medal rod off the ground, he began sneaking up behind the three men.

"C'mon, baby." The taller one crooned. "We just want to have some fun."

"Get the fuck away from me!" She snarled when one reached out towards her. She was trying so hard to look angry…but the fear was obvious in her eyes and the way her voice shook. A whole new wave of anger rushed through him at the thought of any one of them touching her.

The man in the middle poised to lunge at Gabriella, his arms out stretched, when Troy caught up and brought the rod down on the back of his head with a snarl. He let out a gasp and fell to the ground, unconscious. The other two spun on their heels and glowered at him. Gabriella's face was in clear view for him now and he watched as tears began rolling down her cheeks.

"Troy.." She whispered. He pointed the rod at the men who were popping their knuckles and stepping towards him.

"Fuck off." He snarled venomously at them.

"Well," The taller one laughed. "We do plan to fuck…as soon as we're done with you…"

One of them turned back to Gabriella and she whimpered, gripping the fence behind her. Troy dodged a blow from the one still concentrating on him, and ducked under his arm. He ran to Gabriella and stepped with his back to her, guarding her with his body. He reached back with one hand and found her arm, just to make sure she was still there.

He was pissed now.

"Gabriella." He said firmly. "I want you to climb the fence and run. Can you do that for me?"

She whimpered and grabbed his arm. "But—"

"You know…" The taller man said cruelly, pulling out a switch blade and flipping it open. A look of unease flickered across Troy's face. "One thing you obviously haven't learned about fighting, kid, is never show your emotions. You looked pissed when you got here, and now you look a bit uneasy. This simple flick of a blade threw you off your game, didn't it?"

Troy spat at his feet. "I don't know shit about fighting." He said. "But I can still kick your ass. Gabriella, please, _go_."

He felt her hand leave his arm and the fence rustle as she began climbing it as quickly as she could. The shorter man stepped forward in an attempt to stop her, but he also closed the distance between himself and Troy. Troy whacked the rod across his face, easily breaking his nose. He stumbled backwards, covering his face with his hands. Troy heard a _thump_ behind him and knew Gabriella had made it to the other side of the fence as the tall man lunged at him furiously. He stepped to the side and elbowed the back of his head, only enough to disorientate him.

Troy took the moment to reach halfway up the fence and pulled himself to the top. Before he could leap over, a firm grip grabbed his ankle and began pulling him down. His heart thumped painfully in his chest at the sight of the blade in the man's other hand. Blood was dripping down his face from the slice the bar had left across it. He pulled again, and Troy almost slipped back down. The medal of the fence was cutting into his hands as he gripped it for dear life.

He heard Gabriella shriek from the end of the other alley and looked up to see her staring at him in horror. In a last attempt to free himself, Troy kicked back violently, the back of his heal connecting with the man's broken nose. The blade was driven into his leg before he pulled himself over the fence, safe from the possible murderers on the other side.

He yelled out in agony at the sharp blade inserted to his leg, and watched as a small pool of blood began gathering beneath his foot when he pulled it out.

"Shit." He panted. "That hurts."

Gabriella appeared beside him and began helping Troy to his feet. The taller man began climbing the fence when his partner who was still conscious cried, "It's not worth it, Dan! Just leave them!"

Dan gave them on last death glare and turned back to help his friend. Gabriella helped Troy limp out of the alley on one leg before lowering him to the ground on the other side, tears still rolling down her face. She kneeled beside him and hugged his side.

"Troy!" She sobbed. "I'm so sorry!"

"What are you apologizing for?" He grunted, kissing the top of her hair, though he was pretty sure she couldn't feel it. "You didn't ask me to come, did you? No, it was my choice, and I don't regret it, so you shouldn't either."

"But your leg…" She whimpered resting her head on his shoulder. He felt warm wherever she touched him, the butterflies unfroze and where fluttering around in his stomach again, and having her hugging him made him almost forget about his leg. Almost.

"My leg." He agreed. "Hurts like hell. But if we clean it up good it'll be fine. A lot better than what they would've done to you, anyways."

"Thank you." She whispered. "Thank you _so_ much."

"Yeah." He said, feeling suddenly fatigued. "Anytime."

The frowned and squinted at the brick wall in front of him. His vision was blurry and fuzzy around the edges. A wave of dizziness washed over him and he leaned his head back against the wall and groaned.

"Troy?" Gabriella asked in concern.

"Um…" He muttered, trying to think straight as stars danced in his eyes. "Call Chad and Jason."

"Troy?" She asked again. It occurred to him that the words came out slurred and quiet. Her voice was fading. "Shit! You lost a lot of blood….gonna call….okay…"

And he blacked out to the sound of her frantically telling him that he would be okay.

---

For the second time that day, Troy woke up with his head pounding. He was on a couch in the living area of the apartment, his leg wrapped with gauze and two people sitting on the other couch, staring at him. He blinked the blurriness out of his eyes and pushed himself up, pressing a hand to his temple when another wave of dizziness washed over him. He looked over to see Chad and Gabriella staring at him, their eyes wide in shock and confusion.

Aratinga was sitting on the arm of his couch, his head bowed shamefully.

"I'm sorry, Troy." He said, out loud. Troy stiffened in shock and stared at him in surprise.

"Your…?"

"He told us everything." Gabriella said quietly. Troy looked up at her and they locked eyes. "The bird..talked to us. About your dad..and your brothers…..and how your leaving in a week."

Chad was still staring at him in shock. His heart nearly broke when he heard the thickness in her voice when she spoke the last part of her line.

Troy looked back to Aratinga and shook his head in disbelief. "You…told…what? Why?!"

"I had to!" He wailed, shaking his head. "They were going to take you to a hospital! You'd be in the paper! Max and Hanson would find you!"

"Isn't that what we want?! Isn't that the point of being here?!"

"No!" He screamed, causing Troy to jump in surprise. "_No_! I was afraid you'd say that…We can't have Max and Hanson come at you at the same time! Idiot! You really _don't_ remember what your father told you, do you?!"

Gabriella was staring between them in shock. Troy had always been gentle with his bird, and now they were sending death glares at each other. Chad's face showed he shared her thoughts.

"I told you I don't." Troy growled at him. "All I remember is him telling me about my powers being gone. So, please, Aratinga, tell me what the fuck he said."

"Oh," Aratinga whimpered, fluttering to his shoulder and huddling under his jaw again. "Please don't be mad at me, Troy. I hate it. He said a lot of things. But…he said that Hanson knows how to use the medallion, too! Can you imagine if they over powered you together? You'd be trapped until it was too late! And..and, I was upset with you when we left McDonalds our first night here because, well, he said not to make friends."

Troy was silent. He pressed his face to his hands and his hands to his knees. This was so..messed up. This wasn't supposed to happen. He was supposed to come here, get his brothers, and go back. Simple, quick, and easy. But he screwed it up.

"We're gonna fail, aren't we?" He asked quietly. Aratinga began shaking.

"No, Troy." He said, sounding like he was trying to convince himself as much as Troy. "We _can't_ fail. It's not that bad…really. Max and Hanson still don't know you're here, right? So we'll just catch Max on his own and..and we'll figure out Hanson later."

Troy felt a soft hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Gabriella and Chad standing beside him. Gabriella rubbed his back comfortingly, leaving tingles along her hand's path.

"We'll.. We'll help, if we can. I owe you for today, so.." She said softly to him. Chad shuffled his feet and smiled at Troy sheepishly.

"If you can't go to the hospital, then you should take a break for the rest of today." He said determinedly. "I'll go out now. I can't read anyone's mind, but…I'll tell you if I see anyone suspicious."

Troy opened his mouth to protest, but Gabriella interrupted him.

"Please, Troy." She said. "We really want to help."

Aratinga was quiet as he waited for Troy's answer. They would be in so much danger…

"Fine." He sighed. "But, Gabriella, I want you to stay here. Just for today. Then come with me when I go back out tomorrow. And, Chad, if you do see anyone suspicious—make sure they don't see you, yeah?"

Chad nodded once and went out the door. Aratinga followed him, just incase. As the door clicked softly behind them, he collapsed back into the couch, discussing with Gabriella how tomorrow would work while she played with his fingers.

If anything happened to any of his friends, Troy would never forgive himself.

And he would go to any length to destroy Hanson and Max.

---

**Boom, secret's out. :) Personally, I'm pleased with this chapter. And thanks again for your reviews.**

**Quick update, huh? I was just in a writing mood, you know?**

**Troyella suspense FTW! **


	6. Bying Time, Setting Traps

_You know that I could use somebody,_

_You know that I could use somebody,_

_Someone like you._

* * *

Gabriella and Troy had just finished discussing their plans for tomorrow when Jason walked into the room, followed by Chad and Sharpay. Aratinga fluttered through at the last moment before the door clicked shut. Jason dropped a pizza box on the coffee table and sat back into the couch. Chad and Sharpay sat on the floor, Sharpay sitting comfortable in Chad's lap.

"So he's awake!" Jason said, grinning. "I have to tell you, Troy, when you first moved in with us, I didn't picture you as a devil."

Troy stared at him, not sure how to respond. "Uh..thanks?"

Gabriella was eying Troy and Aratinga uncertainly, watching the way he automatically rubbed the bird's head when he landed on his shoulder. It was so practiced, but natural at the same time.

"Have you always had Aratinga?" She asked, turning her head to the side in the way he loved. He shook his head.

"No. Uh.." He thought for a minute. "I met him when I was four, I think."

---

**Flashback**

---

_Troy paused, gripping the rocky corner of the tunnel end. He peered into the lobby carefully and darted out, running on the charred floor. The fire-gate blazed in front of the throne. Curiously, nobody was guarding this particular part of the gate, and not many souls were coming in. He heard voices behind him, and feet running down the tunnels as a small bird fluttered through the fire. _

_Troy dove over to the throne and wedged himself underneath the chair, lying flat on his stomach and covering his head. The small bird blended in with the fire behind him, and he stared curiously at Troy under the throne. He was well hidden from the back and sides, but the front had no cover._

"_Where is he?!" Max hollered, running into the room. His blonde hair was short and his red eyes were large. He was only five, so he didn't particularly have defined features quite yet. Hanson followed him more slowly, his long black hair falling into his eyes. He was tall and muscular for a twelve year old. _

"_Don't worry." He said in his calm tone. "We'll find him."_

_Troy felt a gentle prodding in the back of his mind, and held his breath. Hanson knew exactly where he was, he just wanted to frustrate Max for his own amusement. His skill level was that of an adult, and he could already beat the Ambassador in a mind battle if he tried hard enough. They walked out of the lobby after a bit of searching, leaving Troy alone under the throne. He waited a few minutes before looking up, and locking eyes with the bird. _

_They stayed like that for a while, saying nothing, just staring at each other. Finally Troy narrowed his eyes and said, quite rudely, "What _are_ you?"_

"_I'm a bird." He responded softly. "My name is Aratinga."_

"_That's weird." Troy said matter-of-factly. A spark of amusement lit up in Aratinga's eyes._

"_And what's your name, then?"_

"_Troy." _

"_That's weird." Aratinga said, mimicking Troy's tone. _

_---_

**End Flashback**

---

Troy stopped, not continuing his story any further. Aratinga was laughing quietly.

"And then what?" Sharpay pressed, her eyes wide. Troy coughed and rubbed the back of his neck.

"He threw a rock at me." Aratinga deadpanned. Gabriella reeled back in surprise.

"A rock? Troy!"

Chad and Jason grinned, trying not to laugh.

"I was four!" Troy exclaimed defensively, his eyes wide in exasperation.

Chad held his hands out in front of himself as if to stop everything. "Wait." He said, a small gleam in his eyes. "Do you have, like, she-devils?"

"Yeah."

Jason looked like he had found a pile of gold, and, after a speechless moment, said, "What are they like?"

"Um." Troy blinked. "Ninety-percent slut, ten-percent bitch."

Gabriella and Sharpay rolled their eyes at the awestruck looks on Chad and Jason's faces.

"Did you _do_any?!" Chad exclaimed. Sharpay shot him a death glare, but Gabriella's eyes were on Troy. He felt the back of his neck get hot and he didn't answer.

"Of course he did." Aratinga said simply, as if this was a completely normal conversation and Troy wasn't staring at him in horror as he continued to talk about his sex-life. "How can you expect him to be a twenty-one year old virgin when she-devils are, literally, throwing themselves at him left and right? He is, mind you, the High Devil's son—Max, Hanson, and Troy are like precious gold to she-devils."

The boys looked about ready to bow down and worship Troy.

"Um," He said awkwardly. "Aratinga?"

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

---

When eleven o'clock came around, Aratinga announced that Troy and Gabriella had to go to sleep because they would have an early start tomorrow, and everyone else had to go to bed too so that they didn't wake them up. There were some meek protests to this, but he was having none of it. They trudged out of the living area one by one until, ironically, Troy and Gabriella were the only ones left.

Troy pushed himself off of the couch, ignoring the throbbing in his leg. Gabriella was standing next to him, holding one of her arms awkwardly.

"Um," She said quickly when he turned towards his room. "Thanks..again..for today. I just..don't know how to repay you."

He paused and looked at her intently. Why was she so keen to repay him?

"Gabriella," He said softly. "I'm putting your life in danger just by standing next to you; you don't owe me anything."

She stared at him quietly for a moment before standing on her toes and kissing his cheek sweetly, a blush falling over her cheeks. The butterflies in his stomach went on a trip.

He murmured a goodbye when she turned to leave, his heart racing. The door clicked behind her and he missed her already.

"Bed." Aratinga said gently.

"Right." He sighed.

---

The Ambassador pulled out the measuring tape he'd been using every hour on the hour for the past two days. The High Devil was sitting weakly on his throne, multiple souls and she devils crowded the room, working and going among their daily business while doing everything they could to slow the deterioration cycle. A High Devil's horns were naturally two feet long and tougher than rock. Without souls entering the fire-gate they would slowly break down at a rate of about three inches a day.

It had been two days and they were still a foot and nine inches. This was good, it would give Troy more time. But it was still taking a lot of energy out of him, as well as his ambassador, who was constantly working and measuring and ordering and doing things the High Devil usually did himself.

"Damian," The Devil rumbled. "Take a rest. Aratinga will be here soon to meet with us and we need to be prepared for whatever news he brings."

The Ambassador bowed once. "Yes, my liege." He turned and was immediately in his chamber where he was secretly trying to discover ways to prolong the Devil's life. There were thousands of books, bigger than his head, strewn across the floor. One particular book was layed open on his desk, taped down to a page he couldn't afford to loose.

"_If the High Devil should not be receiving an adequate number of souls per day_

_there is a high chance of his horns melting, chipping, breaking, or cracking until they_

_are completely gone, leaving him powerless to control and keep charge of his subjects_

_and all of Hell. Should he be removed from his throne, this process will increase in _

_speed at least five times in speed. Keeping his minions and vassals close will slow down _

_the process, but only for so long. This was discovered by the first High Devil half way into_

_his term. He also discovered another way to prolong and slow the deterioration's _

_effects. It involved the creation of she-devils."_

He looked up at a tapping on his door. Sighing impatiently and covering the page with another book, he turned and called, "Enter."

A she-devil entered, slowly pushing the door aside. She had long, straight, black hair that fell over her shoulders and framed her somewhat exotic face.

"Sir," She said softly. "The High Devil requires your attendance in the High Devil's Throne. The bird has arrived."

"Indeed." He said. "Thank-you, you are dismissed."

She curtsied once and closed the door when she left. He turned and appeared once again beside the Devil . This time, the room was empty, excluding Aratinga, the High Devil, and the Ambassador. The moment the Ambassador arrived, Aratinga dove into his report dutifully.

"Right now Troy is sleeping, and he does indeed need his rest." He said carefully, and it was easy to see that he was preparing to announce something huge. "The girl we spoke of yesterday was almost in a terrible accident this afternoon, and Troy got himself injured in preventing it. He lost a lot of blood, but he should be fine tomorrow. Although this may cause a delay, it revealed something very encouraging; he is almost as strong as he was with his wings. Unmasking Max and trapping him in the medallion should be easy. However, four humans now know about him and his reason for being on Earth."

A tense silence fell over the room as the information sank in. Aratinga waited anxiously for some kind of reaction, creating a bit of distance between himself and the other two.

"…What?"

"How could he let this happen?!"

"Please!" Aratinga said quickly. "Do not blame Troy! He was unconscious during the time. When he blacked out the girl called the other three for help, and they were going to take him to a hospital. I had to stop them before they made a mistake that would result in complete failure of the mission."

The Ambassador was fuming. He'd been doubtful of the pair's reliability from the beginning, but for something like this to happen…he thought they would at least be able to keep their mouths shut!

"How do we know that the humans knowing will not result in the mission's downfall?" The High Devil asked calmly, resting his chin on his hand. How could he remain so contained?

"The four are fully and completely willing to help find Max and Hanson in anyway they can. I have also searched their heads, and they have to intentions of betraying us or our secret."

"Very well." The High Devil said. "We will hope that your decision was a good one."

The Ambassador stared, appalled, between them. Why wasn't the bird being punished for his negligence? What was this place coming to? Knowing there was no point in arguing he turned and left for the fear of loosing his head and slipping his tongue. The Devil turned back to Aratinga after watching the Ambassador leave.

"Do any of the humans worry you?"

"Yes." Aratinga admitted. "The girl, Gabriella. She is only seventeen, still a child. Though she has no real intentions of betraying anyone, she is the most likely to slip her tongue. Though she is probably the most danger to us, she is also vital from now on. And though she is four years younger than him, she and Troy have clearly developed feelings for each other."

"Describe her to me, Aratinga." He said, staring forward with a distant look in his eyes.

"She…is very beautiful. She is…kind, gentle, dependable, loyal, _stubborn_, and naïve." He paused. "And she is extremely bright. Though Troy doesn't favor it, she has quickly devised a plan that could help us find Max successfully and soon, and I agree that it is cunning and reliable."

The Devil locked eyes with Aratinga curiously, urging him to continue.

"It…the plan…involves live bait."

---

**Alright! Another one! A bit short again, but it was also a little bit of a filler because I didn't want to put the plan in action until I could start it with a clean chapter…**

**S0 I made her kiss his cheek, hoping to please you a little more :) (sorry if there's any mistakes)**


	7. Say It

_Don't judge a thing 'till you know what's inside it,_

_Don't, push, me, I'll fight it,_

_Never gonna give it, never gonna give it up, no._

_---_

Max wet his lips and rolled out of one of the hammocks he'd stolen from the closest Dollar General for himself and Hanson. He hit the top of the post office with a thud and looked over to where Hanson had spent the night. His hammock was empty, swaying between the two light poles in the breeze. Gone early again. He never told Max where he went so early in the morning, not coming back until late afternoon. When he asked the day before Hanson said "Nowhere.", and changed the subject.

He rubbed the side of his head and looked around, not quite sure what to do with himself. Max looked up into the sun that had just barely risen over the horizon. Something small flickered before his face, blocking it out for less than a second and was gone. Probably just a bird or something.

His stomach growled hungrily so he climbed down the brick side of the building and emerged from the alley, looking around for the nearest vendor. A short, balding man with a grease stained apron was standing behind a hotdog stand, wiping his grimy fingers on the already-dirty cloth. Since there was nobody else on the street selling anything looking much better, he decided on that (with a small shudder of disgust.)

Max took a deep breath, and, squaring in on the man behind the stand, invaded his mind easily. These humans had no defenses; of course, as Hanson had said, these humans couldn't invade each other's minds. Pulling a painful memory was easy, too—there weren't many cheery people on these streets. Sure, they were kind to each other, but not necessarily happy. The man had no idea.

As soon as he was in control, Max made the vendor leave the stand and bring him a hotdog. He pushed easily through the throng of people and handed it to Max, and then turned and went back to the people actually willing to pay. As he put the food in his mouth, Max decided that it tasted curiously similar to greasy rubber. None the less, it "satisfied"—or rather, frightened his appetite out of growing for the fear of receiving something like that again.

Stretching tiredly, he turned and began walking down the street for the lack of something else to do. This would be a long week, because Earth was possibly the most boring place he'd ever seen.

And then he saw them.

Max thought about going and getting Hanson, but decided on doing this on his own.

There, on the other side of the road, with his arms around one of the humans, muttering something into her ear—

Was his little brother Troy.

What an open opportunity! But…what was Troy doing here? He began stalking forward, pushing people aside and out of his way, ignoring their disgruntled curses and protests. Confronting him would be best, right? Before he lost sight of him, and Hanson scolded him for not being more careful? Maybe he was there to help them…not that they'd let him.

And then, he stopped, and thought, _Why not play a little game? Earth is really boring, why should I give up this opportunity?_

He changed directions, heading past Troy unnoticed, and crossed the street, stopping in front of the girl who had just begun walking in his general direction. Troy had hugged her, right? So then he wouldn't fancy Max playing games with her head, would he?

_No,_ he thought, stopping abruptly in front of her, causing her to run unsteadily into him and stumble backwards. _I reckon he wouldn't._

_---_

Gabriella forced her feet to move forward, one after the other, left, right, left, right. She concentrated on the sidewalk in front of her, watching the cracks and white spots she could see between people's feet. There was a weight in her head, a security she'd never known.

"Walls." Troy had said into her ear before he took his arms away from her. "I'll be in your head, so there'll be walls around it so he can't come in, okay?"

_Troy?_ She thought uncertainly. She felt a wave of comfort from wherever their minds were connected.

_You wanted to do this._ He reminded her.

She was about to respond when she walked into something tall and solid. She stumbled backwards a few feet and steadied her self. Gabriella looked up at the face of whoever she'd run into and caught her breath.

He had long blond hair that clung to the sides of his neck and fell into his eyes. He was toned, with a rather thin face. His eyes were large and a brown so light it was almost….crimson. He lips were twitched into a tight smile with an evil glint in his eyes.

"S-sorry." She mumbled and tried to walk around him. There was a faint buzz in the back of her head and something felt wrong.

_Gabriella?_

_I'm fine. _She lied. Troy was worried enough about her.

_Your lying. What's wrong?_

She didn't answer, because when she tried to step around the man, he reached a long arm out across her chest and grasped her shoulder with his pale hand. She stiffened and removed his hand from her shoulder. He didn't stop her, but clearly wasn't going to let her pass.

"Where are you going?" He asked conversationally.

"To work." Gabriella replied stiffly. She felt his eyes on her, looking her up and down. She didn't like it. She didn't want him to stare at her that way.

"You don't look like your dressed for work."

"Well I am." She snapped, fear making her defensive.

_Gabriella…_

She saw the man's brow furrow in frustration and took a picture of his face with her mind, thought hard on it, and made sure Troy could see it in her head. She felt his apprehensiveness and alertness at the sight.

_Shit. Turn around, come to the alley we talked about. _

_Is it him? _She asked in shock, feeling a grim agreement in Troy. She hoped the shock didn't show on her face as she stared into the face of Max, Troy's brother. Her heart racing a mile a minute, she turned and began walking the other way. She could hear Max following her, and broke into a run when she felt a prodding on the walls Troy had around her mind. Max snarled behind her and was right on her heels as she ducked under a man's arm was pushed painfully onto her side by the crowd.

The gravel of the road cut into her knees and hands, slicing the leggings she wore under her skirt. She could feel the sharp pain as tiny rocks caught in her knees and the flow of blood down her shins. Gabriella whimpered and shifted onto her butt, taking in her surroundings. She was on the side of the road, and a small car was turning towards her. The brakes slammed on, sending smoke and a screeching sound behind the wheels. There was no time to move, so she ducked her head between her bleeding knees and covered it with her arms. The horn sounded, blaring into her ears as the car came to a stop, inches from her side.

Gabriella didn't take time to process the situation, and jumped to her feet, sprinting through the crowd that had stopped in the shock of the scene. Her palms tingled and her knees ached. Max had been caught somewhere in the crowd, but she could still see his head coming towards her when she looked back. She turned sharply to the right, into an alley that was hidden from the public by a mass of crates. She wrenched herself over the top, loosing a shoe in the process. She felt the ground under her feet and ran blindly down the alley until she tripped in puddle.

The sun's light barely made it into the alley, due to the moss that had grown as a ceiling between the two buildings. It was colder and damper than the streets outside.

Max's footfalls clicked over the crates as Gabriella waited for a collision with the ground that didn't come. A pair of strong arms caught her around the waist and Max stopped dead in his tracks. The walls around her mind gently pulled away until her head felt vast and empty. Then, a new pair of walls, weaker than Troy's, much weaker, but ever present fell around her head.

Her own walls. While Troy had been protecting it, Gabriella's mind had learned to build walls of it's own. And, though they weren't as reliable, she would know before anyone attacked her mind and could alert Troy if need be.

"Thanks." She heard Troy murmur, placing her on the ground to the side, nowhere near the path between Max and Troy.

---

Troy stared down the alley at Max, who was standing rigid in shock.

"Max." He greeted with contempt not hidden. Though finding his brother was necessary, he wasn't too pleased to be in his presence.

"You," Max replied, venom dripping from every word. "What are you doing here?"

Troy didn't answer, just narrowed his eyes and attacked Max's mind. He felt Gabriella's eyes on him, but he couldn't be distracted. He had to concentrate…

He saw Max recoil in pain, and felt a searing burning in his temples. What was this? Why did these attacks hurt, physically?!

He hissed and attacked again, forcing himself not to pull away from the pain. A crack...he needed a crack in Max's wall...anywhere. Another wave of pain and he grabbed at his head and groaned. He could hear Max's own grunts and sent another wave of fire, sending blow after blow to the same spot, desperate for a sign of breaking.

Troy tasted blood and reeled back in shock. Why was he being damaged outside of his mind? Max seized the moment to send an overwhelming blow to Troy's walls, causing them to falter.

His heart picked up speed as he tried to repair the walls, but the doubt was starting to take control.

_Your going to loose. _His consciousness jeered tauntingly. _You can't win. What were you thinking, coming here?_

Piece by piece, brick by brick, Troy's wall began crumbling, more doubt taking it's place. Max would get in soon, he would take control and Troy would fail. Troy fell to his knees, shaking his head.

"TROY!"

The brother's paused, taken off guard by Gabriella's voice. It rang in Troy's ears, washing through his head like a wave of hope.

He could win.

He had to win.

What would happen to her if he didn't?

What would become of Chad and Jason and Sharpay?

Her voice pushed into his mind, shoving away the doubt and pathetic feelings, replacing them with another wall that wouldn't break. His eyes snapped open and he gasped. Max's rapid attacks were like soft thuds in the back of his mind.

All he could hear was his breathing and his pulse, the beating echoing back and forth in his head as sweat dripped off of it. Troy spat out a mouthful of blood and looked up at Max, whose face was twisted in rage and pain. Regaining his consciousness, Troy attacked Max with all he had, sending spears and daggers against his wall that was ragged and battered compared to his own. Finally, a crack. He had just reached into Max's mind when—

Max retreated?

Max renched his mind out of Troy's, both boy's heads snapping backwards. Troy grunted and sat back, holding himself up with his elbows. Max was turning to run, his hands already on top of the crates. He couldn't chase him. Troy's head was too numb to chase him. An adrenaline rush was the only thing that could get him to his feet.

"Coward." Gabriella snarled to Max, who froze.

"Gabriella," Troy muttered. "Don't—"

"What?" Max had turned back towards them, his eyes blazing with fury.

"You're a coward!" She spat. "Running? Ha! Hardly Devil material."

Max was in front of her in an instant, cornering her with his hand raised. "You, bitch!" He brought his hand down and smacked her across the face. Gabriella whimpered and toppled over to her side. She looked up and locked eyes with Troy. He felt a sudden shame wash through him. Gabriella was there, bravely standing up to Max, and what was he doing? Laying here? Her brown eyes were swimming and his chest felt tight.

Max had his leg raised, preparing for another blow.

And then Troy…snapped.

His mind felt blank, like he wasn't in control of himself. Troy had Max against the wall in a second, his head cracked against the brick with Troy's forearm against his throat. He had nowhere to go, no words to speak.

"Give up." Troy told him through clenched teeth. "Say you're forever a slave to Hell and it's High Devil."

Max's eyes widened with realization. "So that's why you're here?" He croaked. "To bring us back?"

"Say it."

"What? And you'll let me go?"

Troy pulled out the medallion with his free hand and held in front of Max's face. The red sphere had a glint to it, like it knew how close it was to swallowing a soul. Max's eyes widened even further and he sucked in a breath of shock.

"_Say it._" Troy pressed his arm further into Max's neck, nearly cutting off his air. He was in control now. If Max didn't give in on his own, Troy would make him, and he knew it.

"I'll say..it." Max gasped. "But, so you know. If it took you…this long to take…me…how well do you…think you'll do with…Hanson?"

Troy said nothing, just released his arm only a bit from Max's throat so he could speak properly. He knew what his chances were with Hanson. They didn't need to be discussed right now. Troy waved the medallion a bit, remind Max what he had to do.

And, being the coward he was, Max gave in. In truth, he was afraid of Troy. Troy, who he'd beaten at everything since they were small. Troy, who had lacked all confidence in himself from the beginning—had beaten him when it mattered most.

Max closed his eyes. "I am forever a slave to Hell and it's High Devil."

The medallion began shaking, the red sphere glowing so bright Troy had to look away.

Max's face suddenly became peaceful, and when Troy removed his arm, he slumped to the ground, his head sagging forward. The medallion let out a high pitched screech, and fell still again. When Troy touched it, the red sphere was warm. He looked down at Max. His eyes were vacant, endless pits of nothing. And then he began to fade until there was nothing there but cobwebs and dirt.

Gabriella exhaled loudly, as if she'd been holding her breath the entire time. Troy ran to her side and put his hands on either side of her face, inspecting her for injury. Her temple had a small bruise where Max had hit her, and her leggings were torn. Her knees were dirty and bleeding, but other than that she looked okay. Troy breathed a sigh of relief and dropped his hands, sitting back and closing his eyes. He heard Gabriella shift and opened his eyes.

His breath hitched in his throat.

She was inches away, her eyes staring straight into his. Her shins were straddling his knees, her hands on either side of his waist. His heart started beating after a brief pause. Her eyes slowly started closing, and she collapsed on top of him.

It took him a moment to process what had happened, why Gabriella was unconscious in his lap and why his heart was beating a million miles a minute. But when it did, it did.

"Gabriella?" He shook her. "Gabriella?!"

Troy picked Gabriella up bridal style and contacted Aratinga through his head. He was far away somewhere. Troy told him what happened and commanded him to find Sharpay while he brought Gabriella to the apartment.

---

**Whoa! Finally! **

**One down, one to go. ;) **

**-Growl- I got a bad case of writer's block when I started this..and such a big chapter, too! I'm still a bit..stuffed up with it so I'm not too confident in how this came out..But I think it was okay…I just don't have the motivation to fix up the beginning…I'll probably make it worse so I'll leave it alone. **

**Nine pages? Not bad. :) **

**Review! Sorry for mistakes..sometimes when I upload chapters spaces get removed…weird o_O**

**P.S. Check out my profile for pictures of Max, Hanson, and Aratinga! (at the bottom)**


	8. Thank You

_It's not fair, just let me perfect it _

_Don't wanna live a life that was comprehensive _

_'cause seeing clear would be a bad idea._

---

While Gabriella was unconscious, and unable to open her eyes or move, her mind was in had three theories as to why she collapsed.

One; the fact that her knees hadn't stopped bleeding from the moment she fell could quite possibly contribute to extensive blood loss and result in her body shutting down. Likeliness? One half of a percent.

Two; the blow to the temple she'd received from Max could also have made her half conscious from the start, and mixed with the pain and blood loss in her knees made her too weak to remain conscious. Probability? Another Half of a percent.

And three; she had practically pinned Troy down like freaking Nala to Simba, straddling his waist and making their faces dangerously close. Not to mention how fast her heart was racing when Troy had protected her, added with the mind-blanking lack of distance between them. Chances of this being her reason? Ninety-nine percent.

Well, there was always the fourth option of the first three mixed together, but the third option just took up too much room to even consider it. Plus, she was exhausted to the point that her thoughts were no longer coherent and slurred like she was drunk and on drugs. Or maybe being knocked out just did that to a girl. The only comfort now was those newly built walls around her mind, still standing strong. A constant reminder; _It's okay, we're still here._

Seeing Max had brought a strange feeling of nostalgia to her. This was Troy's _brother._ He'd been with Troy since the day he was born. He knew everything about Troy. Yet they hated each other. It was like some kind of soap opera plot, except they were demons who could result to violence much too graphic for daily television watched by a majority of the city's elderly.

They looked alike, too, Troy and Max. Even though their hair was a different color, they wore it in similar fashions. They had the same firm jaw line and fierce eyes, even though they were different colors. And they both were tall and muscular, though they were toned down.

But something about seeing Max scared her-- apart from the fact that she was being chased and attacked by a demon. The moment before the medallion let out that horrible screech, Max's eyes had turned red, and she could have sworn she saw two large horns protruding from the sides of his head.

For less than a second, Max had been the darkest and most terrifying creature she'd ever seen. But then he collapsed and looked like a person again, right after the medallion screamed.

And what scared her more was Troy's eyes when he pinned his brother to the wall. The dark blue rings around his eyes had turned black, and around the black had become red as embers.

A crowbar on fire.

It was terrifying because in that moment, Troy looked almost as dark as Max. Gabriella didn't want Troy to feel evil, she didn't want unpleasant chills of fear down her spine when she saw him, because Troy wasn't supposed to be evil. He was the good guy. How could someone so obviously pure be the son of the devil?

That was the purpose of her pinning him down. She needed to see his eyes. She needed to see only the blue irises that she loved. Loved? Yeah, she loved his eyes. But when she really had come within such a close proximity, so many other idea's clouded her mind and she felt dizzy. And that's when she collapsed.

She couldn't remember what his eyes looked like in that moment. Were they blue again? Or did they still burn with Hell's flames?

---

Troy could feel the blood rushing to his head, and the hard floor on his scalp was slightly painful, but he couldn't find the energy to change his position. Which was, for some strange reason, upside-down, with his feet handing over the back of the couch and his back pressed against the cushions. Why? He was just in the mood for it. Sometimes looking at the world from a different perspective was nice, even if it had to be as literal as this. But to be honest, not many things were making sense right now, so maybe this was right-side-up and not upside-down.

Maybe...

Or maybe this was side ways? The thought made him turn his head a bit. Anyone who walked in right now might think he was on acid. He laughed dryly. Hardly happy enough to be tripping.

Hid head still hurt, and laying on it wasn't helping. But the problem was, so did everything else, and moving didn't feel like a good option. Chad and Jason had returned to work after staying with Gabriella for a while, saying they needed the money because rent was due in a few weeks.

_Work. _He thought. _If I worked, what would I do?_

There wasn't much he knew how to do here. He didn't even know what kind of jobs there were. Except for McDonald's, cab driver (Chad's job), an athletic trainer at the gym (Jason), and a nurse (Sharpay). Oh well, one less thing to worry about.

Though he wasn't particularly worried right now. No, the emotion wasn't worry. It wasn't any better than worry, but it wasn't worry. The sense of relief that he'd expected to come with catching Max was absent, missing in action, gone. Too many doors for more problems had opened.

The emotion was something he couldn't name, but it left a twisting in his gut that could almost be qualified as a stomach ache, but not really. Emotionless? No...there was something there.

One problem was the fact that it hurt. The mind battle fucking hurt. It wasn't supposed to physically hurt! The pain that came with a normal mind battle was to your consciousness, not your actual head. And it had injured him; Troy had tasted blood every time he was attacked. But why? He would have to ask Aratinga when he came back from wherever he always went to.

Another problem; his bird was always dissapearing! Was he meeting other birds? Looking for Troy's brothers? Stealing french fries from unsuspecting people eating lunch? No, none of those could work, because wherever he went, it was too far for them to connect in their heads, which is pretty far. Out-of-New-York-State far.

And a third problem; Gabriella Montez was the most frustrating thing he'd ever seen in his life. Not by her fault in anyway. Which was even more agitating, because he couldn't blame her for frustrating him. Nothing had put his self control to the test like she did. Why'd she have to walk with that innocent sway of her hips? Why did her eyes have to swirl all brown and pretty-like? Why'd she have to be so selfless, kind, and brave?

Why did he feel like touching her would be a horribly selfish act? Not that Troy should care about being bad; he was the Devil's son, after all. But, damn it, Gabriella made him want to be good. She was the exact opposite of those she-devils he'd been stuck with in Hell. The only she-devil he'd been fond of in anyway, was Tilly, his host-mother. But that fondness was nothing like the fondness he felt for Gabriella.

There was one more problem regarding Hanson (because three problems clearly wasn't enough), but that would have to be discussed later, because thinking about it now would only make his head hurt more.

Troy swung his legs to the side and pushed himself up into an upright sitting position and leaned his head back, staring at the white ceiling. Hanging upside down had left a feint buzz in his head, sort of like after your first beer, without the giddiness of being drunk. After mulling over his problems, Troy sort of felt blank, like he couldn't decide on what emotion to feel so he felt none at all. Even his twisting stomach sat still. Maybe he was over tired. It was midnight, after all, and he hadn't slept well the night before.

He trudged to his bedroom after downing a glass of water and collapsed into his four-poster bed. It didn't take long to fall asleep, in fact, he was out the second his head hit the pillow.

---

The ambassador could have sang with joy, the wide smile on his face crinkling the edges of his eyes. He placed a paper on the page of the book he had open before him and shut it. Slipping it into an old purple rag, he scurried out of his office area and into the High Devil's Throne. He shivered, drawing his cloak closer around him with one arm. His red-eyes traveled up to the breath-takingly large block of blue ice at the end of the corridor. It's icy limbs had begun to creep out of it's place, over-taking the rock walls that surrounded it. The temperatures had dropped at least thirty degrees from the usual one-hundred-twenty.

Hell was freezing over.

The ambassador had a book of sayings that the humans used, and "when Hell freezes over" was one that he had once found rather humorous. He would think, _That's just silly! Hell could never freeze over!_. And that was, of course, the point of the saying, but it still made him chuckle. But not humans. He found them rather disgusting.

And now, now that Hell _was _freezing over, that saying brought him no humor. It probably never would again, should the boy be able to capture his brothers. In fact, it made him dislike humans even more. How could they mock such serious occasions? Did they not understand what Hell's freezing meant? Nobody could enter Hell to receive their punishments for their sins; they would reside in Purgatory for all of eternity, with nobody to control them! What if the portal to _Purgatory_ opened? The living dead would take over Earth, because there would be no demons to assist the angels in capturing them. Purgatory was far too large for just heaven to control it. It was where those who lived in Heaven or Hell went when they died.

He bumped into a skittish she-devil as he walked. She bowed and apologized profusely before running away, carrying a bucket of cloths that needed to be cleaned. He didn't even have time to dismiss her worries.

The High Devil's Throne was filled with she-devils, because their presence was helping the Devil's nervous soul to relax. That was what they were made for; keeping the Devil's soul calm, working the souls, and reproducing.

At least, that was what he'd thought until today. Sure, they were useful for those things, and they didn't complain, but their creation was done by a genius. Someone such as a Devil would not create new souls just for slavery. The idea was ludicrous. But, of course, everyone had been manipulated into thinking such things.

How could anyone expect their creation to have a secret motive?

Reaching the throne, the ambassador dismissed everyone in the room with a wave of his hand. The Devil looked pale and fragile, panting and sagging in his head leaned forward, his eyes half closed. Beads of sweat ran down his face. The once two-foot horns behind his ears were reduced by half, deteriorating bit by bit. It was heart-breaking, seeing his master in such a state.

"Damian?" The Devil rasped, wondering why the she-devils had been dismissed. The ambassador layed the book on one of the throne's arms, brushing away the purple rag. The book was large and tattered, some pages ripped and others missing completely. He opened it to the page he had marked earlier, ignoring the white paper that fluttered to the floor.

Aratinga landed on the Devil's shoulder, eying the words on the paper.

"Ah!" The ambassador cried happily. "Wonderful timing, bird. You wouldn't want to miss this."

Aratinga blinked. Damian usually wasn't the least bit happy to see him. In fact, he turned quite sour whenever the bird came around.

Something big must have happened.

"Right here," He said, tapping his finger repeatedly on the page, sending little bits of dust off the paper. His eyes were gleaming like they'd never seen. "Nicholas, our first Devil, was an absolute genius!"

The High Devil leaned over the page, his eyes growing wider by the second. His lips started forming the words he read as Aratinga flapped his wings and began shaking with enthusiasm. The ambassador looked like a child, earning praise from his parents as the two got more and more excited.

"Ah.." The Devil breathed, lost for words. Even he, who was always calm and composed, was speechless.

"M-mother's...blessing?" Aratinga blinked. "But..she-devils _die_ after giving birth!"

"A true death," Damian replied. "Does not one "dies", they simply move onto one of the four realms; Earth, Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory. When she-devils give birth, they move to Purgatory."

"So.." The Devil said, finding his voice. "We just need to summon her from Purgatory.." His eyes were unreadable. Was he happy? Did he wish to meet his birth mother?

"Yes." The ambassador said, his voice rising with excitement. Aratinga looked rather doubtful. His beak was sealed shut tightly, staring at the page unhappily.

"But.." He said quietly. "You need _live, _female human blood directly applied to the summoning circle. And it's clear that you," He said to the Devil. "are not strong enough to erase memories. How can we acquire such a thing?"

Damian scowled, as if he'd been insulted directly by the bird's doubt. Wich is reasonable; he'd been pretty excited. "Didn't Troy say that there were female friends of his that knew about us? Why not them?"

Aratinga gave him a look that implied that the ambassador might as well have told him to catch Hanson himself. "Troy will never agree. He'll put me in a _cage_!" He shuddered at the thought. The Devil frowned.

"Tell him we forced you to ask." Aratinga gave a strangled squawk.

"He doesn't even know I meet you! I don't want to live in a cage!!"

"Aratinga." He said in a voice that was frighteningly quiet. "Tell him everything. And then tell him my request of a female, and that she won't be harmed anymore than giving blood."

The bird, hearing the dismissal in his voice, cast them one last pained look and turned away, muttering about them not knowing the horror of cages.

---

Troy stared out of the window nervously. It was dark again; Aratinga had been out all day. He worried about the bird getting home now, with a heavy thunderstorm lasting all day. Lightning thrashed across the sky every second, so that if one was spaced out enough, they might think it was still daylight. Thunder boomed like constant drums in the sky, hardly taking a break between blasts. The rain was taking away whatever vision capabilities that were still available in the dark, and the wind had knocked over garbage cans, blowing them around the rarely empty streets.

He sighed and turned around, leaning his back against the glass. There was music playing from the stereo around the TV, drowning out the thunder. His head still ached, and the music made it pound every time the drums let out a beat, but he couldn't find the will to turn it off. This storm was sent from the heavens.

God was pissed.

Which is no surprise, considering that three devils and a minion were out of Hell, running around New York, socializing with humans and probably stealing from them. And because for the sake of his pride, the High Devil refused to let God send his angels to catch them. That was enough to make any holy person angry. This storm was like God saying "Get away from my humans. Go Home!"

Troy groaned and knocked the back of his head against the window a few times, hating the way things had taken shape.

He heard the door click open and looked up. He saw her fingers first, long and dainty, pushing the door open as her head peaked around the side. Her brown eyes were large and watered, looking nervous. She let the door click behind her and looked up at him shyly.

"Gabriella." He breathed.

It was the first time he'd seen her since she collapsed; Sharpay had told him to let her sleep today before Chad took her to the airport. Sharpay was going to Florida to visit family for the week. She wished him luck and hugged him before going with Chad in Tow. Jason and Troy spent the day..just hanging out. Troy insisted that there was no point in searching, and Jason had the day off, so they hang around the apartment, watching basketball games and Megan Fox movies. But Jason had gone to bed early, because he had to work a morning shift at the gym.

Anyways, besides his "bonding" with Jason, Troy had spent the day thinking about Gabriella. For some reason, when she suddenly appeared before him, he had no idea what to say. He felt guily for letting her get hurt, but he was thankful for her helping him. He wanted to reach out and touch her, but he didn't at the same time.

She was just so _frustrating_!

She smiled a clearly forced smile at him, looking behind her as if she expected something to jump out at her.

"Hey." She said quietly, walking a few steps into the room. Another boom of thunder blasted, and she jumped about ten feet in the air. He frowned slightly. Gabriella looked tired, nervous, and skittish.

"What's wrong?" He asked steping closer to her.

"Umm.." She looked behind her again, wrapping her arms around herself. "Nothing, really."

Was he supposed to believe that? She was in her pajama's-- a purple cami and sweatpants, with her hair tied up in a messy pony tail; like she'd been to bed before coming here. Why wasn't she still sleeping?

"Gabriella." He deadpanned, tilting her chin up and staring her in the eyes. "That's bull."

She opened her mouth wordlessly, looking slightly relieved when their eyes connected. _Blue,_ She thought, _just blue. Good. _She jumped again when the sky rumbled with such might the building shook. Their already close heads knocked painfully and Troy put a hand over his nose and grunted.

"_Ow._" He muttered. "Fuck."

Gabriella covered her mouth and her eyes widened. "Ah! Sorry!"

Troy blinked a few times and lowered his hands. She walked over to the window and shut the curtains in a meek attempt of being casual. He smirked and sighed in realization. "Afraid of thunder?"

She didn't look at him, instead began putting cups that were on the counter into the sink, keeping her hands busy. "I don't know what your talking about."

He rolled his eyes when she jumped again and walked over to her, laughing quietly. She eyed him suspiciously, her hands pausing over the sink. Troy quickly closed one arm around her waist and threw her over his shoulder. She was incredibly light and easy to lift, like a towel as he walked towards the couch. She grunted and gripped the back of his shirt in shock.

"Hey!" She squeaked. Jason slept with headphones on full blast over his ears, so Troy didn't bother to shush her. "Put me down!"

Troy picked up a pair of head phones with his free hand and plugged them into the stereo, making the room sound suddenly quiet. He dropped her onto the couch so that she was taking up two of the three cushions, and pushed the headphones onto her head. She blinked in surprise, staring up at him as a small blush fell over her cheeks.

He couldn't help but grin and sat on the third cushion, closing his eyes and putting his hands behind his head. She smiled slightly and closed her eyes, holding her hands over the headphones, pushing them closer to her ears. Troy wondered slightly if she liked the music; he hadn't bothered to change the songs. He guessed by the small smile on her lips that she did, and watched her for a while. Her lashes brushed her cheeks when she closed her eyes, he noticed as he watched her.

She leaned against the couch and curled up, hugging her knees.

Sometime while he was watching her, Troy must have fallen asleep, because the next thing he knew, the storm was over and she was dozing quietly, her ball loosened and the headphones falling off of her head. Looking out of the window, he saw that it was still dark out, so he must have only dozed. When he looked at the clock, it was almost one.

Troy sighed and pushed himself up, quietly turning off the stereo and pulling the headphones off of Gabriella's head. He picked her up bridal-style and clicked the light off in the living area. Carrying her into his room, Troy was careful not to wake her, but the way her head leaned against his shoulder and her forehead on his neck sent warm chills down his back. He could feel her chest rise and fall against his, and he had to force himself to lay her in the bed before he couldn't convince himself to put her down.

After pulling the blankets over her, he turned to leave, trying to be quiet on the hardwood floors that seemed to want to make as much noise as possible. He was just thinking about how he hoped she could sleep okay, when he felt a small tug on the back of his shirt. Troy stopped and turned back to the bed, following the arm that had shot out of the blankets up to Gabriella's face. Her eyes were half closed, but she was clearly awake.

"Stay." She said so softly he had to strain to hear.

"...What?"

Her eyes closed a little bit more. "Please."

He hesitated, and she tugged on his shirt more. Could he handle himself? Would this be too much for his self-control?

"Stay." She said again. Troy gently removed her hand from his shirt and turned off the light before slipping into the bed beside her. It wasn't a small bed, so there was a good foot between them if he stayed on the side. He felt awkward. What did she want him to do? What did his staying matter?

He heard a rustle and felt the bed move, and before he could react, she was curled up close to him, burying her face into his chest. His breath hitched in his throat. Troy was sure that if the light was on, he would see her blushing, and his heart picked up speed. Could she tell?

Not knowing what else to do, Troy wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. He felt her relax against him and exhale. She murmured something very quietly, but he heard her as if she had shouted it.

"Thank you."

--

**AHHHH**

**It's been so long :'D**

**I'm UBER SORRY. (and that's a lot of sorry.) **

**Why did I take so long? I'll make it short.**

**Computer failure----No microsoft word---not wanting to use word pad----writer's block from not writing in a while----vacation----still no microsoft word--ended up writing it in word pad anyways.**

**So, if there's mistakes, it's because I can't find mistakes by re-reading my own work, wordpad has no spell check, and FF's spell check doesn't understand half of the english language. **

**I should get a beta....**

**I hope the fluff at the end made you smile :)**

**If your confused about Aratinga, the Ambassador, and the Devil's meeting---good. You should be ;)**

**I'll explain it next time.**

**And lastly, if your thinking that Max was caught too fast, that's good too. He was supposed to be fast. Because Max is the easy one. **

**He's really just there to make Hanson look worse.**

**Because Hanson is quite the bad ass. **

**Check out a banner I made at the bottom of my profile!!!**

**review?**


	9. Arguements and The Lake

_Allow me to exaggerate, a memory or two._

_Where summers lasted longer than, longer than we do._

_----------_

Troy slowly opened his eyes, letting the sun fill his vision before is eyes adjusted. He felt groggier than usual, and sat up, throwing an arm over his eyes and yawning. He felt an arm slide off of his chest and into his lap, making him cast his eyes to the left, noticing the brunette sleeping soundly beside him.

The events of the night before flooded into his memory, and he felt rather proud of himself. He had made her feel safe, while resisting any urges and just being there. That knowledge itself would probably be enough satisfy him for a while.

The sun cast a small, golden glow over her hair as she slept. Her chest rose and fell with an even and slow pace. When a strand of hair that had been freed of her pony tail fell into her face, he gently placed it back behind her ear, letting his fingers brush across her cheek.

Troy slowly slipped out of the bed, tiptoed to the door, and left the room. For some reason, he didn't want to be there when she woke up. What if she was embarrassed? He shut the door quietly behind him and leaned his back against it, heaving a sigh.

"W-what is Gabby doing in your bed?"

Troy's head snapped up to the living area couches. Chad and Jason were sitting on the couches, watching the morning news. Jason had a spoon of cereal half falling out of his gaping mouth, and Chad was waiting expectantly for an answer.

Troy sort of felt like a child with his hand caught in the cookie jar. Though, it really shouldn't bother him that they knew, because he wasn't guilty of anything.

"Er--" He stammered as Jason swallowed.

"You didn't.." He gasped. "_You know._"

Troy's eyes widened. In a normal situation, they wouldn't have minded saying it. "It" being, "sex". But because this was Gabriella, their " little sister" (as Chad called her), _that_ word was just not said in a sentence that referred to her.

"No!" He said quickly. "No._ No_."

"Well," Chad argued. Why did "no" sound unbelievable? "Then why is she in your bed?"

"_Because._" Troy pressed, feeling embarrassed. "Did you know she's afraid of thunder?"

Jason looked a bit guilty after the realization set in. Chad relaxed and leaned back into the couch, eating his Cheerios™. Satisfied that his innocence was proven, Troy walked into the living area and collapsed into one of the couches, eying the weather report.

No severe damage. Yep, that was a heavenly storm. Never doing what it was capable of.

"Um," Jason mumbled to Troy. "Sorry."

He blinked. "For what?"

"Thinking you did..." His face turned slightly red. "_**that**_ with her."

Something about the statement, Troy found incredibly funny. He started laughing, holding a stitch in his side and falling over in the couch. The other two looked confused for a moment, but soon enough they were all laughing, wiping tears from their eyes and panting for breath. A bowl of cereal was knocked off of the table, causing them all to erupt into another fit of laughter.

Maybe they were all just letting out the built up stress from the week, their minds choosing that the best way would be laughing hysterically.

Or maybe it was a guy thing.

A sharp tapping on the window broke them out of their moment They looked up at the glass, only to see a small red parakeet looking very annoyed and disgruntled. Troy's eyes widened.

He'd forgotten that Gabriella had shut the window that was open for the bird. Guilt made him stop laughing completely, and he pushed himself up from his new position on the floor. Jason ran to the kitchen and got paper towels to clean the mess of cereal off of the floor before Aratinga lectured them for it.

Little did they know, the bird was in no mood for lectures.

The window squeaked as Troy pushed it open, shoving a stick into it to keep the glass open. Aratinga fluttered in and landed on the coffee table. He shook his feathers off, sprinkling water everywhere. He said nothing to any of them, and refused to make eye contact.

"Sorry the window was shut." Troy mumbled, worried that his bird was upset.

"That's okay." Aratinga said absently. He stared straight across the room at the wall, his toes twitching nervously. "Um..Where's Gabriella?"

Blinking in surprise, Jason replied, "In Troy's room. She slept there." He added as Troy rolled his eyes.

Aratinga gave Troy a long, pained look of exasperation. Were the fates all against him?

"And Sharpay?"

"Florida." Chad said.

_Why me?_Aratinga thought.

"Troy," He said quietly. "We have to talk."

"Nothing happened!" Troy growled, still feeling defensive over last night's events.

"Why so defensive," Chad teased. "Do you wish something _did _happen?"

He flushed. "Of course not!"

Jason grinned, feeling an interrogation approaching. "Come _on_ Troy. We see the way you look at her."

Troy felt himself pale a bit. Was it that obvious? "I..I don't know what your talking about."

Aratinga nipped Chad and Jason on the ears, causing them to yelp and jump. He landed on Troy's shoulder, glaring at them.

"Of course not." He said sarcastically. "But that's not what we need to talk about."

The three fell silent, waiting for him to continue. Aratinga shuffled nervously, flapping his wings.

"You may want to sit down for this."

* * *

Gabriella woke up shivering. She would probably never feel as warm as she did when Troy held her as she slept. She wondered if she should get up, or wait for the sun to warm her. Her arm was still laying out across the spot that he had slept in, and that spot was still warm.

When she thought about what she had asked Troy to do the night before, her cheeks turned pink. She had been so..weak! And once again, Troy protected her.

She took a deep breath and yawned. These blankets, these pillows, this bed, and probably her...they all smelled like him.

Somehow this thought pleased her immensely. Gabriella smiled softly and sat up, letting the blankets slide off of her. Deciding that she would find out if Chad was back yet, and if Troy was still here, she swung her legs over and hopped out of the bed. The window still had water droplets on it, and the colors of the outside-- gray, red, and some blue-- gathered into each drop.

The tiny brunette stretched her arms over her head, lifting her heels as well. The living area was silent as far as she could tell, so she opened the door a crack and peeked out.

Her heart almost stopped.

All three boys were there, with Aratinga above the table. His head was tucked under his beak miserably. Jason and Chad seemed to be frozen in shock, and Troy's face was almost unreadable.

Except it wasn't.

He looked pissed, his hands were clenched into fists so tight that his knuckles lost color, and his lips were shut into a thin line. The way his eyes were downcast made it hard to see, but she knew. The dark blue ring around his irises were black, with only a small suggestion of red around them.

What did she miss?

Before she could decide whether or not to go back to sleep and wait for what ever tension was in the air to leave, Jason cursed under his breath and stated he was late for work. Grabbing his things, Chad followed him out, both of them walking stiffly. Troy hardly moved for minutes, but Aratinga was clearly restless. His eyes flicked from the wall to Troy continuously, but he didn't say a word. His wings were flapped, but he didn't fly anywhere.

Finally, Troy spoke.

"No." He said flatly. "Never."

"But Troy," Aratinga begged. "She won't be harmed anymore than necessary, and it'll give you _at least_ another two weeks."

"No!" Troy's hands tightened more until his palms started to bleed. Gabriella had to cover her mouth to keep from whimpering. "_Any more than necessary_? Do you even_ know_ how much is necessary for something like that? A lot more than the ambassador will let on!"

"_Please, _Troy." The bird begged. "It's only a little bit of blood."

"Maybe for someone from Hell! But for something that lives on Earth, that _little bit of blood_ can kill. _You_should know that better than anyone." Troy snarled. Aratinga looked like Troy had smacked him. "Don't ask again."

Something about the authority in his voice send chills down Gabriella's spine. Aratinga fell silent, but looked like he wanted to scream. She felt completely lost; that bird, who had ordered them around from the start, always spoke his mind...why did he back down so easily, when he clearly still had things to say?

Gabriella shut the door quietly, not wanting to see anymore. She looked around the room, from the dresser with partly opened drawers, to the bed, with blankets thrown carelessly across it, to the floor, with shirts and shorts placed messily everywhere.

_Boys. _She thought, and began to pick up the clothes off of the floor with shaking fingers, if only to keep herself busy. She found an empty basket on the floor and dropped the clothes into it. She walked over the the drawers and shut them, poking whatever clothes hung out back in. Then she went to the bed and picked up the blankets by the ends and shook them once, watching them flutter into the air and land on the bed, neat and straight.

Something was knocked out of the blankets, and hit the floor with a thud.

Gabriella walked over the side and picked up Troy's medallion. The red sphere, even though it was over twenty-four hours after Max had been caught, was still warm. When she brushed her finger over the crescent, it was cold enough to have been in a freezer for years.

Tired of waiting, she pushed open the bedroom door and walked into the living area. Aratinga was gone, no sign that he'd been there but one red feather on the window pane. Troy was standing at the counter, leaning back on it with his elbows. Though they weren't black, the rings around his irises were darker than usual, so whatever he'd fought with Aratinga about, she decided, still bothered him. The way that he glared at the wall was enough to know that he was angry.

Hesitantly, she stepped forward. "Um..." She said quietly, gripping the medallion. His eyes flicked over to her and a softer expression rested on his face. He smiled slightly and exhaled.

"Hey. Are you...er, feeling better?"

She blushed and pushed the medallion out to him with both hands, looking away. "Yeah. This was in your...bed. I thought you might be looking for it."

Troy reached out and took the medallion, his fingers brushing hers. "Thanks."

"So um.." Gabriella said carefully. "Have you just been glaring at the wall all morning?"

He paused, thinking. A small frown made him look slightly confused, and he brushed his thumb along his bottom lip thoughtfully. "No." He said finally, and quickly added. "Are you working today?"

"What?" She pouted at the change of subject, and Troy's heart melted at the look on her face.

"Today," He repeated. "Are you working."

Gabriella shook her head. Troy made a face at her.

"You don't work much, do you?"

"No." She smiled. "It's only a part time summer job, so there aren't many hours a week for me. You didn't think my profession was taking orders at McDonald's, did you?"

He frowned at her again. "I don't really know what passes as a good job here." He said seriously.

The brunette was somewhat saddened at his words. He wasn't from here. He wasn't staying here. Why should he worry about jobs? "Right." She mumbled, looking down.

"Hey." He said in a softer voice, noticing her sudden change of mood. _Did I say something wrong? _"Can you show me where The Lake in Central Park is today?"

She brightened slightly, but couldn't resist being curious. "Yeah, but why?"

A guarded look passed over his eyes, no matter how hard he tried to act casual. _Not yet. _He told himself. _This isn't the time. Wait until everyone is here. _Because he couldn't find the words, Troy settled with a shrug.

Gabriella eyed him suspiciously, feeling increasingly frustrated. He was dodging all of her questions! "Okay.." She said slowly. "We can take subway B on seventy-second street...but there has to be reason?" She added the last part unwillingly, her wonder too strong to not ask.

He bit his lip and averted his eyes. His darkly-rimmed eyes. "I just want to see it." He pressed earnestly, after a pause.

Gabriella frowned at him. Did he ever want to "just do" something before? She sighed, finding any argument futile, anyways. She nodded . "Fine. The subway leaves at noon."

Troy had made several decisions during his lifetime, mostly because his occasional job was to choose punishments for sinners, and so the decision of his opinion on subways wasn't too hard to decide.

They sucked.

The boarding platform was crowded, the people were loud, and everything was dirty. Hell, whose floors and walls were made out of rock, had less grime than this. He must have seen ten homeless people, as dirty as the floor. He didn't see his old friend with the greasy shirt, though, not that he wanted to.

When he peered down the tunnels of the subway, it was too dark to see more than ten feet. There was graffiti on the walls and litter pushed to the corners and off to the side, despite the garbage cans on every turn.

The bus itself was a bit better, but it was still crowded. Everyone was somewhat quiet though; probably annoyed by being rammed into their neighbor every now and then.

Troy and Gabriella sat on the green leather benches, across from a man reading a newspaper and a young boy, no older than six. The boy stared at them quietly, his fingers clutched around a stuffed animal. Gabriella stared back at him, and when he lowered his eyes shyly, she smiled.

Troy watched as the boy's face brightened and he buried his face in the stuffed animal.

He felt a whole new appreciation for Gabriella's ability to make people around her love her, and he was still watching her when the bus stopped.

"Okay." She huffed once they emerged to the sunny streets of New York City. "Now that, _that's _over, we walk down this road for a while, then we'll get to central park, and we'll walk a while 'till we get to The Lake."

Troy nodded, walking beside her through the surge of people. "So," He said. "You don't like subways?"

Gabriella shuddered. "No way. Their dark, gross, and the people there can be pretty rude."

"I'm not surprised." He admitted, comparing Hell to a subway in his mind. "I can't imagine someone being in a great mood in a place like that."

"You didn't like it, either?" She asked, expertly dodging someone who walked quickly in the opposite direction.

"No. There's too many humans in one place."

Gabriella picked up speed, suddenly not looking at him. Her shoulders had stiffened and her eyes narrowed.

Oops.

"Too many _humans_?" She asked crossly. "What's wrong with humans?"

Troy made a face, unaware of why she was so upset. He strode next to her quickly, thinking of another way to put what he'd said. "Well, you know, their nature, I guess."

Her eyes widened in exasperation and she scoffed.

"Oh, come _on_, Gabriella! I'm not saying _every_ human is bad! Just..a lot of them!"

"So now humans are bad? A _devil_ calling humans _bad_?" Her eyes were glazed defensively as they strode into Central Park.

_She's an amazing multitask-er; watching street signs, walking, yelling, and over reacting all at the same time._ He thought sarcastically.

"No, that's not what I meant." He said in an injured voice. Something about her calling him a devil bothered him to no end.

Suddenly glad that she'd worn sneakers, Gabriella started a slow jog, knowing they were close to The Lake. Troy jogged next to her, cringing over the thought of being a devil to her.

"Then, please, Troy, tell me what the _hell_ you mean." Her voice quivered when she stepped down, making her anger seem magnified. "Because, frankly, I have no idea what you say _means_ today."

"I _mean_, that out of almost all the humans I've seen in my entire life, they've all been sinners, sent to _Hell_, for the seven deadly sins. Other than you, Sharpay, Chad, and Jason, I've never met human that wasn't _bad_. What do you expect my opinion of them to be?!"

She was panting now. Their jogging had turned into a run, and keeping up with Troy was something unlikely to be achieved for Gabriella. Another thing she couldn't do. Troy noticed and slowed back down to a stop. She stopped,too, and sat on a bench by the side of the path. Troy tapped the front of his foot on the ground, crossing his arms over his chest. He could feel himself getting weak; the grogginess of this morning hadn't passed, and that run had winded him.

"Gabriella," He said in a more gentle voice. "Your right, I'm a _devil._ This body is harboring _two_ souls right now. My, less permanent, human soul, and my devil soul." He paused, suddenly feeling sad. "Devils. Hate. Humans. The only reason I'm able to get along with you at all, is because the human portion of the equation is being used on Earth. But, for lack of better words, I've got a devil "base". There's nothing I can do about it."

She closed her eyes and shook her head, rubbing her temples. "How can one body contain two souls?" Her voice cracked and she forced a laugh. "You'll wear it out."

Troy said nothing, but he sat next to her, hoping that their argument and her anger had passed. "It's already wearing out." He admitted.

She looked up suddenly, her brown eyes snapping open. He was fingering the medallion quietly, brushing his thumb over the red orb. His eyes still had a dark ring around them, and the night before, she'd noticed two, long, bruise-like marks parallel to each other, going down his back.

"The human soul is tying me down to this body." He said quietly. "If my devil can't over come it, then it'll _die_, and I'll go back to Hell without Hanson."

Her head was swimming with this information, it was so..hard to accept and understand. "Why?"

He thought for a second, trying to make this easy to understand—not that that was possible. "A human soul is like...a passport. If I don't have one, I can't be here. That's why I need to get my wings back, so that the human soul will stop using up its energy to suppress them. Angels and devils need permission to be here, because it's territory of living humans, animals, and other organisms. I just don't know how to get my wings back yet...and I can't fight Hanson without them."

"I don't really get it." Gabriella decided, standing up. She started to walk down the path, towards The Lake. He stood up and walked after her, relieved to not have to speak anymore.

Unable to stop himself, he reached forward and grasped her hand in his. Her cheeks turned pink, but she entangled her fingers with his willingly and squeezed. He felt relieved that she hadn't pushed him away, and he smiled.

Troy followed her soundlessly, mulling over all the things he needed to do. When they got to The Lake, he paused in shock, staring at the clear blue water. There were several spots around the edge with rock piles, and he took note of them. The trees were several feet back, making it easy to walk around the lake.

"Why here, Hanson?" He muttered under his breath, thinking that only he could hear.

But Gabriella heard, she heard loud and clear.

Troy stepped forward and narrowed his eyes to stare into the water, calculating its depth. A fish darted by, leaving the water to tremble after it. He looked up, guessing the height of the tallest rock pile from the water, and its distance from the trees.

A group of teenagers, looking to be about Gabriella's age, danced around in the water, the girls squealing when the guys splashed them or dunked them under. Gabriella stared at them quietly, wondering if that was how all of the people her age acted.

Troy stood up straight and followed her gaze to the group. Three girls and three guys. "Do you know them?" He asked her.

Gabriella slowly looked back at him. "Not really. They go to my school, that's all."

He nodded slowly as she looked back at them, seeming to study the way they messed around. "It's strange." She admitted. He just stared at her, listening. "I don't hang out with barely anyone from my school; my closest friends are all between twenty and twenty-four. Sometimes it's funny to watch them act so differently around each other than I do with you guys."

Troy looked back at the hyperactive teen girls and then at Gabriella again.

There was definitely a difference.

"Do you ever wish you were more like them?" He asked carefully.

Gabriella tilted her head thoughtfully. "Wish I felt like I needed a pound of make-up, stilettos, and a short skirt to fit in?" She let out an arguably ungraceful snort. "I used to. For, like, a day. Then, I saw some girl fall down the stairs because she couldn't handle her shoes, and I sorta got over it."

Troy grinned. "That's good, 'cause if you were like that, I don't think I'd be able to stand living three doors down from you-- even for a week."

She found sad humor in the statement and sighed. "Right. A week."

* * *

**it's been so LONG!! I bet your getting sick of apologies and excuses, but it's all I got. Uhhhh....what else...my nephew started walking this month :D He gets shy when everyone starts clapping.... If the explanations of why Troy needs his wings so bad confuses you, let me know and I'll try to clear it up in an author's note after some chapter...those kind of things are hard to explain without it being, like, a page of just that....RANDOM NEWS: I got a 98 and a pencil on my science project!! Woo!! **

**Happy Halloween guys, hope no one dies of chocolate overdose...or something...**

**review if your still reading~~**

**P.S....it's been so long I forgot my password...and thanks to StoicCrying for recommending OpenOffice for me, cause it works great**


	10. Aratinga's Disobedience

**M**After Troy had finished studying The Lake's perimeter, for what reason Gabriella didn't know, they went out and got lunch; three subs from the nearest deli (one for Gabriella and two for Troy, whose boy seemed to be burning calories faster than a meerkat) and a coke each.

Gabriella, much to Troy's annoyance, noticed Aratinga's absence, and when they stepped out of the subway and began walking towards the apartment, she finally decided to question him about it, hoping to reveal that morning's argument.

"So," She said carefully, swinging her arms at her sides. He cast a sideways glance at her. "Where's Aratinga today?"

Troy got that guarded look on his face again, and she kind of wanted to smack it off. He shoved his hands in his pockets, and in a way, he seemed to be pouting.

"Dunno." He said, biting his bottom lip unconsciously.

"But," She pressed, not giving up just yet. "Can't you talk to him with your mind?"

Troy frowned slightly, narrowing his eyes. She wasn't sure, but she thought she could see his arms tense up. His jaw tightened. "Not when he's far away."

Happy to have gotten somewhere, Gabriella leaned forward suggestively as they walked. "So he's far away, then?"

Troy stepped in front of her so quickly that she walked right into his chest. He blocked her path forward, his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes narrowed suspiciously. Gabriella tried her best to look innocent, though she wasn't sure what he was suspecting.

"Why do you want to know?" He asked in a low voice. She chewed on her tongue quietly for a moment.

"I just haven't seen him in a while, is all." She said, bouncing on her feet. "I'm kind of worried."

Which wasn't a complete lie; she was worried about the bird...because he was always upset after he and Troy argued. Of course she wanted to know what they'd argued about, but mostly because she had a haunting feeling that it had something to do with her. If Aratinga left because they argued, she wanted to know.

"He's not the kind of bird to get himself into trouble, you know." Troy said, clearly not believing her "worried" excuse. Gabriella side stepped around him and started down the sidewalk again. Troy followed behind her, so close that his chest almost touched her back.

She knew something, he decided. He refused to break through her mind, but what if she'd overheard what Aratinga had said to Chad, Jason, and himself that morning? He needed to know before he told her to forget about it, or risk having to tell it to her himself.

The very _thought _of her going to there made him shudder.

"So," He pressed, "Why do you want to know?"

"_God," _She muttered defensively, knowing that this conversation was not going her way. "Can't a girl be curious?"

"No." He said, walking just a bit closer. He saw goosebumps rise on her arms when she felt him so close. "Just tell me."

Gabriella paused, knowing that there was no way out; she'd backed herself into a corner._ Curiosity killed the cat really fits this situation..._She thought bitterly. _Damn Troy, he really knows how to get answers, doesn't he?_

"Well," She said slowly, trying to steady her voice. Troy knew he was winning. "I know he gets upset when you guys argue..."

_Almost there,_ Troy thought. _Keep going..._ He was torn between wanting to get a confession out of her, and wanting to know that she _hadn't_ overheard anything, that he was just being paranoid.

"I know you argued this morning, and--"

Bingo.

Quick as a flash, Troy grabbed her arm and pulled her into an alley far enough that the people on the street couldn't see. He pressed her back against the wall and held his hands against her arms, firmly enough to keep her there without hurting her. She looked winded, blinking in shock.

"What did you hear?" He demanded.

"..Huh?" She said absently. Clearly whatever reaction she'd expected, that wasn't it.

"Gabriella." He snapped. She blinked a few times before her eyes seemed alert and he knew she was back with him. "What. Did. You. Hear."

"Nothing." She said stubbornly. "I don't remember."

He was mildly surprised that she didn't look shaken at being held against an alley wall, but she probably already knew that he wouldn't intentionally hurt her for the life of him.

"_Then think about it._" He said in a threateningly low voice. Finally her eyes widened and her mouth opened and shut wordlessly. She trembled slightly under his fingers, and he felt somewhat guilty for scaring her, but it was more important that she didn't do what Aratinga, his father, and the Ambassador wanted.

If she was even considering it, this girl _needed_ a good scare.

She shook her head, her lower lip quivering before she bit it, trying to look like she wasn't frightened. "I just know that your were angry," Her voice was pleading.

He looked straight into her eyes. "Are you sure that's all you heard?"

She nodded feebly. "Please, Troy, your freaking me out."

Troy sighed and dropped his hands from her arms before running one through his hair. He closed his eyes and leaned back against the alley, feeling the need to scream. Knocking the back of his head against the brick a few times, Troy looked back at Gabriella. She was hugging herself tightly, watching him with wide eyes.

"Troy," She whispered. "What did you argue about?"

He was silent, studying the way her deep brown locks fell into her face instead of answering. Calming himself with a deep breath, Troy pushed off the wall and turned to leave the alley. "Nothing." He said flatly. "It doesn't matter. Are you coming?"

Realizing that he was already halfway out of the alley, Gabriella jogged to catch up with him. When they emerged from the alley, it was nearly dark out.

"It clearly wasn't nothing, Troy!" She argued, taking long strides to keep up with him. "You just had me pinned against the wall to make sure I didn't know, how is it nothing?"

"If I tried so hard to make sure you didn't know, why would I tell you now?" He replied, walking ahead of her once the apartment building came into sight.

"Ugh!" She growled in defeat. It had been such a long day, so many debates and negative emotions that she just wanted to curl up and go to sleep as soon as she got inside.

Of course, the fates wouldn't permit it.

----

Chad was already a drunken mess, his words coming out in almost incomprehensible slurs. He was standing on the couch, one drink in hand, and a cell phone on the other. Jason was in better shape, but his cheeks were definitely pink, and the look in his eyes suggested that he wouldn't mind doing something crazy that he would regret tomorrow.

Gabriella had thought about going straight to her apartment as soon as they walked into the building, but as her luck would have it, she'd left the keys in Troy's room. Even Troy was mildly surprised by the wave a noise created by just two men that hit them as soon as he opened the door.

"Troooy!" Chad bellowed happily. Jason raised his drink as if to cheer to their arrival.

"Why are you on the couch?" Troy asked, eying Chad suspiciously as he carefully shut the door behind Gabriella. She stepped in quietly, more accustomed to this behavior and sneaked into Troy's room.

"'Cause s'good!" Chad cheered before going back into his conversation on the phone.

"Ten bucks says that's Sharpay." Troy said, turning his gaze to Jason. Jason nodded, a goofy grin on his face. "And what's good?"

Jason put his drink down and jerked both of his thumbs towards himself, his grin growing. "Guess who got a promotion..."He said in a sing-song voice.

Troy grinned and clasped Jason's hand. "Congrats, man."

"Yes, sir!" Jason said, pushing a drink towards Troy, who took it gratefully. "Your looking at the new manager of Aspen's Athletics!"

Troy raised his shot towards Jason in response before tipping his head back and dipping it down his throat. He welcomed the burn and the buzz, needing its bitter reassurance. He and Jason observed Chad, who was now dancing. He seemed to be benefiting the most out of Jason's promotion, and they amused themselves with how unaware the alcohol had made him.

"Hey, Chad!" Jason called. The afro-haired guy looked up from the mess he'd made on the carpet after spilling his drink. "Sing us a song!" Troy watched Chad's face light up while he conjured up a song.

Finally, he bellowed, "Ninety-nine bottles of beer are still full! Ninety-nine bottles of beer! Take one down, give it to me! Ninety-eight bottles of beer are still full!"

---

Gabriella quietly shut the bedroom door, careful not to make any of the boys notice her absence. She was too tired to drink, so she relaxed in Troy's room while the guys splurged. Frankly, after what she'd learned today, it seemed that Troy shouldn't be risking a hangover that might not go away.

_He's a grown man,_ She thought stubbornly, _he can take care of himself. It's not my job._

Satisfied with her decision, Gabriella plopped down onto his bed, crossing her arms and wishing that he had a good book in his room somewhere. She studied the room, noticing that it was almost exactly as she'd left it this morning. Clean, neat, and leaving her with nothing to do.

Before she could become too bored, however, a flapping sound and a flurry of red greeted her as Aratinga landed softly in her lap. He had a serious and nervous look on his face and she blinked in surprise.

"Ar-"

"Don't talk out loud." He hissed once, before easily removing the walls around her mind, causing her to jump in surprise.

_Troy can't know I'm here or he'll block me out from both of us._

Still unaccustomed to having people talk into her head, it took Gabriella a moment to respond. _Why?_

_Because of our argument this morning. I don't have a lot of time before he notices I'm here, so I need to know...Do you want to help Troy catch Hanson?_

Gabriella froze, not quite prepared for this front. Help Troy? Of course...even though it would mean him going back to Hell; a thought that pierced her heart when ever it crossed her mind. There was no point in prolonging the inevitable, was there?

She hesitated.

_Well, yeah. Why?_

_Just listen. I know you heard us this morning, and I know that you want to know what was going on._

Her heart began racing, feeling the question that had bothered her all day begin to be answered. Aratinga was talking quickly, so it was hard for her to even get a thought in.

_There's no way for Troy to catch Hanson before the end of the week, but if he doesn't the High Devil will deteriorate into a pile of debris. Without his wings, and even with them, Troy is powerless against his eldest brother. There's only one hope left for Hell or Troy, but it requires a living, female human's blood. That's where we need _you_._

Gabriella paled slightly. Blood? She wasn't exactly great around blood.

_If you'll agree, I'd like to escort you down to Hell. When we get there, you will be brought directly to the High Devil's Throne, where a circle with several symbols, the Ambassador, and the High Devil will be waiting. In the circle there will be a light ring just an inch away from the initial shape. All you have to do is allow us to slit your wrist, and drag it between the two rings. _

She was quiet, picturing the scene and shuddering. The blood, the heat, the pain, the _Hell_. She was about to respond, when a thought struck her, hard as a ton of bricks.

"Demons. Hate. Humans." Troy had said earlier, and the words came back at her, cold and merciless.

If she went there, would the...residents...attack her? Would they let her leave?

Would she ever come back to Earth?

_Like I said, _Aratinga continued, sensing her fear. _I will escort you; nobody will come in contact you but me, the High Devil, and the Ambassador. But I need you to decide quickly. _

_Why? _She thought feebly_. What's the point of all this?_

Aratinga stared at her with a grim expression, his eyes almost begging her to comply. But how could she if she didn't know what she was agreeing to?

_We want to use your blood, to bring the High Devil's mother back from Purgatory. If all goes well, she will conjure a spell called "Mother's Blessing", and bestow it upon him, and he will be given enough strength to survive for at least another two months. Enough time for Troy to regain his wings and capture Hanson. But we need your blood to revive Banshee._

_And we need to do it tonight._

_---_

After about three drinks, Troy's weakened body was shot. He refused anymore drinks from Jason, and snapped at Chad once. His head was throbbing, and his eye lids were growing increasingly hard to keep open. He hid his face in his arm and let out a yawn before looking back at the clock above the stove. The choppy green numbers showed that it was only ten o'clock.

After Chad had finally passed out from all his alcohol intake, and Troy and Jason had thrown him into his bed, Troy stumbled into his room. He half expected to see Gabriella there, sleeping in his bed again. Instead, there was a note on the dresser and his empty bed, made again after that morning.

He picked up the note and read her delicate scrawl. Her fine lettering seemed to fit her personality perfectly, and the thought made him chuckle.

"_Thanks." _It said, and as he turned the paper around to inspect it, there was a single word left on the back that caught his attention. "_Sorry._"

To be honest, he didn't get it. Why was she sorry? For getting mad earlier? Maybe she thought that he was angry at her after his outburst in the alley.

The thought made his heart sink with guilt. Still, something didn't feel right. Gabriella wasn't the type of person to apologize for that; in fact, she would be more likely to expect _him_ to apologize. Scratching his head, Troy put the note down and surveyed his room.

_She's too nice._ He decided, fully taking in the neatness of the room. Sighing, Troy sat on his bed, noticing the feint smell of her perfume. Suddenly, he felt a chill and rubbed his arm, searching for the place of the draft.

As another breeze brushed his arms, he turned his gaze to the window. The old window was propped open with a stick, and the curtains billowed into his room and then out with the breeze. He frowned as he lowered his gaze to the floor beneath the window.

A small red feather lay, sticking out like a sore thumb on the light-colored carpet.

Troy picked the note up again.

_Sorry._

He looked back at the feather, then the note. "Sorry." He breathed, horror quickly settling over him.

A sudden thrash of thunder made him snap into action. Troy leaped off of the bed, letting the note flutter to the floor. He made it to the window in a single bound before he flung himself out onto the fire escape. He took the rusty stairs, four steps at a time, to the side alley beside the apartment building.

His fatigue was gone, the only physical discomfort he felt was the churning of his stomach at the thought of where she planned to go, and what she planned to do. He raced down the street, the wind making his hair blow away from his face.

_Where would he take her?_ He thought, his head pounding. _Think, Troy, think!_

It had to be somewhere that was always dark, somewhere that nobody would notice a flash of light or sound. Somewhere no human or animal would go if they could help it.

A flash of light flared up the sky as another boom of thunder rumbled, shaking the earth to it's core. "I know!" Troy shouted at the sky, not sure if heaven would even hear him.

Secluded, dark, cut off, close... his mind was spinning with jumbled thoughts as he sprinted down the nearly empty streets of New York City. The only places still opened were clubs and 24/7 convenience stores. A blinking red "Open" sign caught his attention and he stopped, staring at the sign as it blinked.

Red, light, sound.

Red light.

His hand shot up to the medallion dangling around his neck. The red sphere was warm.

Red light.

"The alley." He gasped, before turning and sprinting down the walkway. Troy jumped over a pile of trash and stumbled past a group of men, sitting drunken on the ground. He passed McDonald's, and his heart ached. The spot where the medallion was constantly smacking his chest began to throb, but he ignored it.

_Almost there. _He thought. _Please don't leave, Gabriella! _

He could see the alley, and he could hear their voices. As soon as the crates blocking off the alley were within arms length, he grabbed hold of them and launched himself over. The hard ground below scathed his knees as he tumbled down, but he pushed himself up regardless of the pain.

Gabriella was already dressed in a long back cloak with hood that, when pulled up, shadowed her face. Aratinga was on her shoulder, murmuring something under his breath. When she turned and noticed Troy, the bird's chanting picked up speed.

"Gabriella, don't!" Troy screamed, but he was far too late. The last thing he saw before the burst of bright red light enveloped them, was her big, brown eyes, wide in anxiety and surprise.

In the next second, they were gone, leaving Troy alone in the alley, panting and gasping for breath uselessly lost. He slammed his fist in to the ground, not even caring when his knuckles started to bleed. She didn't understand, he knew she didn't understand. If she understood, she wouldn't have gone.

Aratinga didn't understand. The bird knew that the danger was more than a little blood. She-devils, demons, the Ambassador, they would all try to take advantage of Gabriella. The only one's Troy would trust with her were Aratinga, who was powerless against a she-devil or demon, or his father, who was too weak to fight anyone. Aratinga had promised Gabriella protection, but there was none down there for her.

Unless Troy went after her.

He was considering this; it wouldn't be hard to get to Hell. It would feel amazing to be able to stretch his wings again...But Gabriella was there, and he would be a devil again. Could he allow her to see him like that before it was necessary? And even if he did, would he bother to protect her once he had his wings again?

His devil soul felt a million miles away, and he couldn't even tell what he would do anymore. Troy sank his fist into the ground again, this time with less vigor.

He was still contemplating going to Hell, when a voice made a chill run down his spine.

"Hello, Troy." Said Hanson, sitting on top of the crates. Troy whirred around to face him, still on his knees. Hanson's black hair was long and straight, his horns stood out prominently from behind his ears, and his deep crimson eyes glowed. "It looks like you screwed up."

Troy narrowed his eyes, hate raging through his veins like fire. The long bruises on his back burned. "What do you want?" He snarled.

"I was just wondering," Hanson said slowly, looking around the alley as if admiring someone's house. "If you have accepted my challenge."

"You know I have."

Hanson grinned a malicious grin. "In that case, would you like to know a secret?" When Troy hesitated, Hanson added, "I can tell you how I got my horns back."

Troy froze, his eyes widening He stared at Hanson disbelievingly ."Why would you tell me that? I'm your enemy."

Hanson laughed, and his laugh made Troy shiver. It was like his brother was laughing _at him_,

"Troy." Hanson said, shaking his head. "Do you really think I can consider you an enemy? Even with your wings, I'll defeat you five minutes, maybe less. That would be _boring_." His eyes seemed to glow. "If I have to waster time fighting you, I at least want to enjoy myself."

"You're an ass." Troy snarled. "I don't want your secrets. I'll figure it out on my own."

"You'll be wasting valuable time, Troy. Even if that girl successfully summons Banshee, you'll have only two months to defeat me. Remember; I refuse to fight you at The Lake until you're strong enough."

'I don't care!" Troy spat. "I don't need your help! I'll see you at The Lake, and I'll kick your ass there. There's no reason to see you until then."

Hanson sighed. "You're temper really is just like Max's. That's too bad. Anyways," He stood up. "I'll see you later, then."

And with that, he was gone. Troy stared at the crates silently for a moment, before the rain started to pour down on him.

"Dammit, dammit, dammit!"

* * *

**Hello there, Hanson! Shame, shame, Aratinga. **

**hehe...not loving this chapter, but it's okay. **

**review? :]**


	11. AUTHOR'S NOTE

**Attention:**

**I'm very sorry for being gone forever, and for leaving without notice. I have many excuses but I will spare you the trouble of hearing them all. I'm also sorry to say that I will NOT be returning to fanfiction, simply because I have no interest in writing stories about other people's characters anymore. Instead, I have started an account on fictionpress, and if you would like to read my own, original stories there I would be very grateful. :) My writing has improved a bunch, and I have started my own story there called Exposed. **

**If you're interested, and are kind enough, go here:**

**http : / www . fictionpress . com/s/2872312/1/Exposed **

**(Without the spaces) to read my own original story.**

**Here is the summary:**

_**Each year during the Harvest Festival in Hoosick, travelers from all around come to invest in the village's festivities, but this year three travelers are up to no good. They're werewolves, and they're here to spread their infection.**_


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